Paradisaea (Latin, paradise); minor (Latin, lesser); common name contrasts its smaller size with the similar but larger Greater Bird of Paradise.

Description

Sexually dimorphic. Both sexes average 32 cm in length (excluding central tail wires). Adult male has yellow head and back, iridescent green throat, body and wings brown, other than yellow stripe on lesser coverts, elongated yellow filamental flank plumes and elongated tail feathers reduced to fine brown ‘wires’. The adult female has dark brown head, buff-yellow nape and mantle, mid to dark brown upperparts and white underparts.

Lowland and hill forest, swamp forest, forest edges and secondary growth; adapt to human-modified environments; 0-1550m.

Lowland and hill forest, swamp forest, forest edges and secondary growth; adapt to human-modified environments; 0-1550m.

Breeding at least July-February. Females build and attend nests alone; may lay up to 12 eggs. Nests are bulky open cups, built in tree branches.

New Guinea: Misool and Yapen Islands, Vogelkop and north of mainland eastward as far as mouth of Gogol River, upper Ramu River, and along the north-west coast of Huon Peninsula.