Brown sicklebill

Brown sicklebill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Paradisaeidae
Genus:	Epimachus
Species:	E. meyeri
Binomial name
Epimachus meyeri Finsch & A. B. Meyer, 1885

The brown sicklebill (Epimachus meyeri) is a species of bird-of-paradise.

The brown sicklebill is distributed to mountain forests of New Guinea, Its appearance resembles the closely related and larger black sicklebill. In areas where these two large sicklebills met, the brown sicklebill replaced the latter species in higher altitudes. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, arthropods and small animals.

This bird was discovered by Carl Hunstein in 1884 and named after Adolf Bernard Meyer of Dresden Museum, Germany.

The brown sicklebill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Description

Female in Papua New Guinea

Male in Papua New Guinea

The brown sicklebill is large, up to 96 cm long, dark blue and green with highly iridescent plumages, a sickle-shaped bill, pale blue iris and brown underparts. The male is adorned with ornamental plumes on the sides of its rear and a huge sabre-shaped central tail feathers that are highly prized by natives. The female is a reddish brown bird with buff barred black below.

Subspecies

• Epimachus meyeri albicans
• Epimachus meyeri bloodi
• Epimachus meyeri megarhynchus
• Epimachus meyeri meyeri

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• Song Brown Sicklebill