Following its original discovery in 1858, the standardwing bird-of-paradise was not seen again for nearly 60 years, and then only a handful of times until 1953. The standardwing is endemic to Northern Maluku in eastern Indonesia and is the westernmost species of the true birds-of-paradise. It can be found on the islands of Halmahera and Bacan in lowland tropical rainforests and hills, and occasionally in woodland. BHL acknowledges the existence of harmful content in many biodiversity science publications and original materials included in its collection. Please read BHL’s Acknowledgment of Harmful Content for more information.
Following its original discovery, the Standardwing wasn’t seen again for nearly 60 years, and then only a handful of times until 1953. No further sightings were reported until the British ornithologist David Bishop rediscovered the species in 1983 and began making the first detailed observations of its behaviour. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working together to digitize the natural history literature held in their collections and make it freely available for open access as part of a global “biodiversity community.” Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. All structured data from the file namespace is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License; all unstructured text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
Of the two birds of paradise endemic to the Moluccas, Indonesia, the Paradise Crow Lycocorax pyrrhopterus was found to be the sixth and the Standardwing Semioptera wallacii the fifth most frequently recorded passerine during BirdLife International avifaunal surveys on Halmahera Island. Both were found in both primary and logged rain forest at an average density of c. The Paradise Crow is tolerant of mangroves, swamp, and montane areas and human disturbance to forest habitat while the Standardwing is less so. Both species are presently widespread and common on Halmahera and cannot be considered immediately endangered there, but populations on smaller Moluccan islands require study and regular monitoring. The first introduction of a bird-of-paradise to Europe was a result of Ferdinand Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the earth. When the voyagers were at Tidore in December 1521, they were offered a gift of beautiful dead birds by the ruler of Bacan to give to the King of Spain.
- The Paradise Crow is tolerant of mangroves, swamp, and montane areas and human disturbance to forest habitat while the Standardwing is less so.
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- An alternate account by Maximilianus Transylvanus introduced the term manucodiata (a corruption of the Malay manute-dewata; “bird of the gods”), used for birds-of-paradise up to the 19th century.
- BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working together to digitize the natural history literature held in their collections and make it freely available for open access as part of a global “biodiversity community.”
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- George Robert Gray of the British Museum named this species in honor of Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and author of The Malay Archipelago, who discovered the bird in 1858.
Superstock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of standard-wing bird of paradise semioptera wallacii halmahera, indonesia by Photoshot – NHPA is available for licensing today. The standardwing bird-of-paradise was filmed for the first time in 1986 for the BBC nature documentary Birds for All Seasons, when a cameraman Michael W. Richards stationed in the canopy captured footage of a male bird displaying.
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Based on the circumstances and description of the birds in Antonio Pigafetta’s account of the voyage, they were likely standardwings. An alternate account by Maximilianus Transylvanus introduced the term manucodiata (a corruption of the Malay manute-dewata; “bird of the gods”), used for birds-of-paradise up to the 19th century. They gather and perform a spectacular aerial display, “parachuting” with wings and its vivid green breast shield spread, and the wing “standards” fluttering above its back.
Its diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and fruits. A male Wallace’s Standardwing at a display lek, where he uses a combination of fluttering wings, a metallic blue breast shield, and raised white plumes on his shoulders to impress potential female mates. George Robert Gray of the British Museum named this species in honour of Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and author of The Malay Archipelago, who in 1858 was the first European to describe the bird. The generic name Semioptera is composed of semeion for a flag or military standard and ptera for wings. George Robert Gray of the British Museum named this species in honor of Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and author of The Malay Archipelago, who discovered the bird in 1858.
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This poster is on paper, but please note that we offer linen-backing for an additional cost. Three birds perch on a branch, stunning with their multicolored feather. This poster is a reproduction of an original print by acclaimed zoologist Daniel Giraud Elliot. “I have now obtained a few examples of apparently the same bird from Gilolo; but in these the crown is of a more decided violet hue, and the plumes of the breast are much larger.” This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
A common species in its limited habitat range, the standardwing bird-of-paradise is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to its increasingly fragmented habitat. This cookie provides mobile analytics and attribution services that enable us to measure and analyze the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, certain events and actions within the Application. In fiscal year NAL delivered more than 100 million direct customer service transactions. BHL offers a wide range of free tools and services to support the use and re-use of our collections and data. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
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The standardwing bird-of-paradise is medium-sized, approximately 28 cm long, and olive brown. The male has a gloss violet-and-lilac coloured crown and emerald-green breast shield. Its most striking features are two pairs of long white plumes coming out from the bend of the wing that can be raised or lowered at the bird’s will. The unadorned olive-brown female is smaller but has a longer tail than the male.
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