Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise Seleucidis melanoleucus Scientific name definitions

Male 33 cm, 170–217 g; female 35 cm, 160–188 g. Male nominate race has entire head velvety black with iridescent coppery olive-green sheen, entire crown with purple iridescence; upperparts , including lesser upperwing-coverts, velvety black with iridescent oily sheen of coppery olive-green (washed purple in some lights); greater wing-coverts, alula, tertials, secondaries and uppertail iridescent violet-purple and/or magenta, primaries black; chin, throat and entire breast velvety black with slight coppery yellowish-green iridescent sheen; large feathers bordering lower breast broadly tipped iridescent emerald-green, with violet-purple adjacent bases, forming gorget that extends up each side of breast; elongate and dense breast feathers form extensive breast "cushion"; remaining underparts , including grossly elongated, inwardly curving filamentous flank feathers, brilliant yellow; white central shaft of six flank plumes on each side grossly elongated beyond webs into black "wires" that, after recurving upwards, are again white; iris bright blood-red; black postocular stripe of bare skin; long, slightly decurved bill shiny black, mouth aqua-green; legs (including bare thighs) pink. Female is smaller than male, but with tail much longer; plumage radically different, cryptically drab-coloured, upper head and upper mantle sooty black with dull iridescent purple sheen, remaining mantle and entire upperparts chestnut-brown, paler on exposed primaries; malar area, throat and upper breast greyish-white, flecked, spotted and then uniformly barred blackish, as are remaining underparts; black postocular stripe of bare skin; bright pink tarsus. Juvenile undescribed; immature male like adult female (tail longer than adult male), also sometimes paler, washed with sandy orange-yellow and/or with brown base of lower mandible, iris pale brown, turning yellow with age; subadult male variable, from like adult female but with few feathers of adult male plumage intruding to like adult male with few remaining feathers of female-like plumage; with age, iris changes from yellow to almost red, and male progressively acquires grossly shorter tail. Race <em>auripennis</em> is smaller than nominate, notably in bill length, female underparts darker, more brownish, and more heavily barred than nominate.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Male has two advertisement calls (accompanied by raising of open wings to expose yellow flanks): a throaty, nasal, resonant, mournful and downslurred "harnhr hahn" or "hahng" ; and a series of 3–8 "hahr-haw haw haw" (note transcribed also as "ca'h", "wah", "wau", "wauk" or "oww"), first note highest-pitched and followed by brief pause, and final 2–7 in rapid succession. When a female visitor arrives, males give higher, insistent, whining, nasal "twang hahng-hahng-hahng-hahng-hahng", the notes falling in pitch, and a series of Paradisaea-like upslurred "koi-koi koi koi koi".

Breeds Jan to late Oct/early Nov in SE (near Port Moresby); males with enlarged gonads in Jan–Feb and Jun–Dec, peak gonadal activity Aug–Dec, females with enlarged oocytes Aug–Sept; display at least Jul–Jan. Polygynous, solitary adult male displaying at traditional perches; female builds and attends nest alone. Adult male frequents and vocally advertises one or several adjacent vertical, leafless and typically dead tree stumps protruding from forest canopy, three vocal males mapped at each of Nomad R and Kakoro (in E New Guinea) were at mean nearest-neighbour distance of 730 m; display perches, defended from other males, c. 0·5–1 km apart. Display involves perch dance, bill-fencing with female , postures involving movements of wings, flank plumes and wires, pectoral shield and thighs, and gaping, and a tactile phase (Wire-wipe Display) in which male swipes female across face with his flank wires. Nest a shallow egg-cup of (once supple) vine or tree inflorescence stems inside bulky deep structure of pandanus bark and vines on sparse foundation of sticks and leaves, lined with rootlets and plant fibres; built up to 14 m above ground in pandanus or sago palm. Clutch 1 egg, rarely 2; in captivity, incubation period 20 days, nestling left nest at 3 weeks of age.