The astrapian sicklebill, also known as the green-breasted riflebird, is a bird in the

Paradisaeidae The birds-of-paradise are members of the Family (biology), family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. T ...

family that was proposed by

Erwin Stresemann Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most comprehe ...

to be an intergeneric

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

between an

Arfak astrapia The Arfak astrapia (''Astrapia nigra'') is a species of astrapia, a group of birds found in the birds-of-paradise family Bird-of-paradise, Paradiseidae. Taxonomy The Arfak astrapia was Species description, formally described in 1788 by the German ...

and

black sicklebill The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Bird-of-paradise, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Bird's Head Peninsula, Vogelkop region to the ...

, an identity since confirmed by

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

analysis.

History

Only one adult male specimen of this hybrid is known, held by the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

, and presumably deriving from the

Vogelkop Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula (Indonesian: , , meaning Bird's Head in Indonesian and Dutch) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai'') is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesia ...

of north-western

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

.Frith & Beehler (1998), p.507.

Notes

References

* * Hybrid birds of paradise Birds of the Doberai Peninsula Intergeneric hybrids {{Paradisaeidae-stub