Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise

Seleucidis melanoleucus (Daudin, 1800)

33 cmLength174 gWeight

The male has twelve black filaments projecting behind its yellow flank feathers like curved wires.

Busiest months: July–August · Most records: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Male has red eyes and a long black bill
Male has long, rich yellow feathers on the flanks
Male has twelve black filaments projecting behind the flank feathers
Feet pink, with large claws

Male, female and young

Male has yellow flank feathers and twelve black filaments; female brown, with black barring on pale yellow underparts.

Where and when it's recorded

Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise has been recorded at 18 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Kwatu LodgePapua New Guinea144 records
Alex Waisimon's PropertyIndonesia138 records
Nimbokrang – Jalan Korea swamp forestIndonesia99 records

More places

Elevala and Ketu RiversPapua New Guinea76 records
MalagufukIndonesia61 records
NimbokrangIndonesia58 records
Malagufuk villageIndonesia51 records
Elevala RiverPapua New Guinea50 records
Fly River – between Kiunga and Elevala RiverPapua New Guinea48 records
Elevala River – between Fly River and Ketu RiverPapua New Guinea45 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Indonesia Papua New Guinea

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The male has a red iris, long black bill and rich yellow plumes along his flanks. From the rear of these plumes emerge twelve blackish, wire-like filaments, which bend back near their bases to sweep forward over the bird's hindquarters. Their feet are strong, large-clawed and pink.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise?

The Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise is about 33 cm long and weighs around 174 g.

Where does the Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise live?

Its breeding range: Australasia: Salawati (Raja Ampat Islands, northwest of New Guinea) and New Guinea. It is most often recorded in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.