BIRDS of THE WORLD - An Online Bird Book
SEARCH 

BOWERBIRDs

Order Passeriformes  Family Ptilonorhynchidae

The Bowerbirds are named after the male's habit of building a "bower" to attract prospective mates. The bower is made of upright sticks and around it are place objects that will hopefully appeal to his mate(s). These objects can be drab or colorful depending upon the species. They are found in Australia and New Guinea.
Image: James Sinclair



Genus Ailuroedus

Catbird,_Green  Ailuroedus crassirostris  Found: east coast Australia
The Green Catbird has emerald green upperparts with white spots on wings; brownish-green tail with white tip; 2 white wing-bars; greenish-buff underparts with small whitish spots.;
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi  2) Tom_Tarrant  3) Michael_Dawes


Catbird,_Spotted   Ailuroedus maculosus   Found: Australia, New Guinea
The Spotted Catbird has mainly green upperparts; green and white underparts; cream colored bill; blackish cap; black ear-patch.
Image by:   1) David Cook - Lake Eacham, QLD, Australia  2) Andy Nunn  3) Dominic_Sherony


Catbird,_White-eared  Ailuroedus buccoides  Found: Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
The White-eared Catbird has green upperparts; brown crown; whitish face;; buffy underparts with black spots.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova   2, 3) Dick Daniels - National Aviary  4) Sandy Cole - San Diego Zoo  5, 6) Winfried




Genus Amblyornis

Bowerbird,_Golden-fronted   Amblyornis flavifrons  Found: New Guinea
The male Golden-fronted Bowerbird has rufous-brown upperparts; elongated golden crest extending from golden forehead; buffish-yellow underparts; dark gray feet. Female has olive-brown plumage.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) Post of Indonesia


Bowerbird,_MacGregor's   Amblyornis macgregoriae  Found: New Guinea
The MacGregor's Bowerbird has brown plumage; lighter underparts. Male darker and has erectile gold crest.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Katerina_Tvardikova


Bowerbird,_Streaked   Amblyornis subalaris  Found: New Guinea
The Streaked Bowerbird has olive-brown plumage; streaked underparts. Male has erectile orange crest.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) Richard_Sharpe  3) P_Khoo


Bowerbird,_Vogelkop   Amblyornis inornata  Found: western New Guinea
The Vogelkop Bowerbird has mainly olive-brown plumage; paler underparts. Makes one of the most elaborate bowers.Nno fixed preference for items of a certain color, more important being the "novelty value" of the items instead.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) John_Gould 3) Lars_Petersson



Genus Archboldia

Bowerbird,_Archbold's   Archboldia papuensis  Found: New Guinea
The Archbold's Bowerbird has dark gray plumage; brown eyes; black bill; gray legs.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) David_Cook  3) Jerry_Oldenettel


Bowerbird,_Sanford's   Archboldia sanfordi  Found: New Guinea
The Archbold's Bowerbird has dark gray plumagte; reddish-brown eyes; black bill; gray legs. Male has golden crest. Also considered subspecies of Archbold's Bowerbird.
Image by: 1) Jon_Hornbuckle



Genus Chlamydera

Bowerbird, Fawn-breasted  Chlamydera cerviniventris  Found: Australasia
The Fawn-breasted Bowerbird has grayish-brown upperparts with whites spots; paler underparts with white spots on upper-breast. The bower is of "avenue-type" with two sides of wall of sticks and usually decorated with green-colored berries.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo  4) cuatrok77


Bowerbird, Great   Chlamydera nuchalis   Found: northern Australia
The Great Bowerbird has fawn gray plumage. Male has pink crest on nape of neck. The bower is a twin-walled avenue-type bower. The ends of the bower are scattered with white and green objects - stones, bones, shells and leaves and small man-made objects such as plastic and bottle caps.
Image by: 1, 2) Sunphlo   3) JJ Harrison - Queensland, Australia   4) Benjamint444


Bowerbird,_Western   Chlamydera guttata  Found: Australia
The Western Bowerbird has brown upperparts with reddish or buff spots; pink erectile crest on nape; white-tipped brown tail; buff underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Laurie_Boyle  3) Christopher_Watson   4) Bill_and_Mark_Bell 


Bowerbird,_Yellow-breasted   Chlamydera lauterbachi  Found: New Guinea
The Yellow-breasted Bowerbird has brownish-olive upperparts; coppery crown; grayish-yellowupper- breast; yellow rest of underparts; black bill. Female duller than male.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) Daniel_Giraud_Elliot  3, 4) Geoff_Jones



Genus Prionodura - 1 species

Bowerbird, Golden  Prionodura newtoniana  also   Amblyornis newtoniana  Found: Australia
The Golden Bowerbird has brown head, wings; bright golden-yellow tail, crest, nape, underparts.
Image by: 1) Mark Sanders  2) David Cook - Far North Queensland, Australia 



Genus Ptilonorhynchus - 1 species

Bowerbird, Satin  Ptilonorhynchus violaceus  Found: Australia
The male Satin Bowerbird has glossy blue-black plumage. Female has green to brown upperparts; lighter underparts with scalloping. Both sexes have blue eyes. The mature males preferred shiny blue objects for decorating their bowers.
Image by:   1, 5) Oystercatcher   2) Tatiana Gerus  3) Brian_McCauley  4) Summ  5) David Cook - Victoria, Australia  7) Joseph_Boones 
1) Juvenile male  2, 3) Female   4 - 6) Male



Bowerbird, Spotted  Ptilonorhynchus maculatus also Chlamydera maculata Found: Australia
The Spotted Bowerbird has blackish-brown upperparts with amber spots; pale rufous head; pale cream underparts with faint grayish scalloping.
Image by:  1, 4) David_Greg_Smith  2) David Cook   3) Greg_Miles



Genus Scenopoeetes - 1 species

Bowerbird, Tooth-billed  also Stagemaker Bowerbird also  Tooth-billed Catbird  Scenopoeetes dentirostris  Found: Australia
The Tooth-billed Browerbird has olive-brown upperparts; whitish underparts with brown streaks; tooth-like bill; gray feet.
Image by:  1) Dominic_Sherony   2) David Cook - Queensland, Australian  3) Francesco_Veronesi



Genus Sericulus

Bowerbird,_Fire-maned   Sericulus bakeri  Found: New Guinea
The male Fire-maned Bowerbird has fiery orange crown, mantle; golden-yellow wing patch; black lower upperparts; yellow eyes. Female has brown upperparts; brown-barred whitish underparts.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) P_Khoo  3) Charles_Davies


Bowerbird,_Flame   Sericulus aureus  Found: New Guinea
The male Flame Bowerbird has flame orange crown, nape, mantle; yellow underparts. Female has olive-brown upperparts; yellow or golden underparts.
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova  2) John_Gould


Bowerbird,_Regent   Sericulus chrysocephalus  Found: Australia
The male Regent Bowerbird has mainly black plumage; orange-yellow crown, nape; wing patch; yellow bill, eyes. Female has brown plumage with some whitish markings on mantle; brown and white underparts.
Image by: 1) jacksnipe1990  2) Dave_Curtis  3) thaths  4) Seabamirum  5) Myobatrachidae
1, 2, 3) Female 4, 5) Male






Back to Top