Question 1

True or false: Females perform a 'split-second' display where they invert upside-down on a branch.

Accepted Answer

False. Males, not females, do the upside-down display; females are dull-colored and observe without performing.

Question 2

True or false: The male's display includes clearing a small 'dance floor' on the forest floor of leaves.

Accepted Answer

True. Wilson's bird-of-paradise males clear a patch of forest floor of leaves to create a court, then perform an elaborate dance.

Question 3

True or false: The species is named after the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson.

Accepted Answer

False. It is named after Thomas B. Wilson, an American ornithologist and philanthropist who financed the expedition that collected the first specimen, not the poet-naturalist Alexander Wilson.

Question 4

True or false: This species was first described from a specimen collected by explorer Alfred Russel Wallace.

Accepted Answer

True. Wallace sent the first specimen to Britain in the 1850s, and it was named after his friend Thomas B. Wilson.

Question 5

True or false: Males have two long, wire-like tail feathers that curve into spirals at the tips.

Accepted Answer

True. The male Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise is known for its two bare, wire-like central tail feathers that curl into distinctive spirals or loops during courtship displays.

Question 6

True or false: Wilson's bird-of-paradise is found on the main island of New Guinea, not just small islands.

Accepted Answer

False. Wilson's bird-of-paradise is endemic to the small islands of Waigeo and Batanta, not the New Guinea mainland.

Question 7

True or false: Females lay only one egg per clutch, which is typical for most birds-of-paradise.

Accepted Answer

False. Wilson's bird-of-paradise clutches contain 1-2 eggs. Many birds-of-paradise lay two eggs per clutch, so a single-egg clutch is not typical for most species.

Question 8

True or false: Wilson's bird-of-paradise has a bright blue bare crown that glows in UV light.

Accepted Answer

True. The male's vivid blue crown is actually structural color that reflects UV light, aiding in courtship displays in the dim forest.

Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise Trivia Questions