Greater bird-of-paradise

This bird lives on the big island of New Guinea and on some small islands nearby.

It lives in warm, wet rainforests, high up in the tall trees.

Greater birds-of-paradise live in the rainforests of southern New Guinea, a huge island north of Australia, and on the nearby Aru Islands. New Guinea is shared by two countries: the western half is part of Indonesia, and the eastern half is Papua New Guinea.

They live in lowland and hill forests, from sea level up to about 950 meters. The males gather in very tall trees that stick up above the rest of the forest.

The IUCN (2024) lists Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as range countries. Mulyani and colleagues (2025), citing Pratt and Beehler, describe the range as humid lowland and hill rainforest from 0 to 950 meters, from the southern Jayawijaya Mountains and the southern lowlands of Papua (from Timika eastward) to the Fly and Strickland Rivers in Papua New Guinea, plus the Aru Islands.

Britannica notes the species was also introduced to the island of Little Tobago, in Trinidad and Tobago. The IUCN's 2024 assessment does not list it there, and that population is not shown on this page's map.

Scientists are still finding out what this bird likes to eat.

The tall trees where the males dance may also give them food.

Here is a surprise: scientists still know very little about exactly what the greater bird-of-paradise eats. The forests where it lives are hard to reach, and much of the land is looked after by local communities, so long studies take time and permission.

Researchers studying these birds in Papua noticed that the tall trees where males dance may also be places where they find food. Scientists also think that plenty of food in the forest helps birds-of-paradise grow such fancy feathers.

Diet is one of the open questions. Mulyani and colleagues (2025) list food composition among the ecological details that remain unknown for this species, along with nesting behavior and female roosting trees. They note that the southern lowland forests of Papua are difficult to reach and that much of the land is managed by local communities under customary rights, so long-term research requires dialogue and permission.

Their study and earlier work suggest display trees may also serve as food sources, and they cite research linking the extravagant plumage and displays of birds-of-paradise to high food availability (Irestedt et al. 2009). Any precise diet list for this species should be treated with caution until field studies catch up.

The males dance together in one tall tree.

They call loudly, spread their wings, hop and bow. The females watch and choose the best dancer.

Male greater birds-of-paradise gather to dance in one tall tree. This display place is called a lek. A male arrives early in the morning and calls loudly, "cow, cow!" Other males answer and join him, and females come to watch.

The males lift their wings and tails, jump around flapping, and bow low with their wings almost hugging the branch. Sometimes two males dance face to face. Each female chooses one male; in one study, only one male was seen to win a mate.

Mulyani and colleagues (2025) watched a lek tree in South Papua for seven days, a 27-meter emergent Gironniera tree. Lekking ran from about 6:00 to 10:00 in the morning and 2:00 to 4:15 in the afternoon. The sequence: a host male arrives and calls; other males answer and arrive; silent females gather nearby; males begin dancing; females approach and choose; mating; then females and finally males depart.

Display elements included the wing pose (wings and tail held up), the pump (wings and tail extended while jumping rapidly), the bow (head lowered, wings almost embracing the branch) and the dance (jumping while flapping). Calls varied from "cow... cow" to "kaek" and "koak." Mounting was seen only twice, both times by the same male; the authors note their sample was too small to measure how often lekking males succeed.

Birds-of-paradise need tall trees to dance in.

When forests are cut down, they lose their dance trees. People are working to protect these birds and their forests.

The greater bird-of-paradise is not in danger right now: scientists list it as Least Concern. But its numbers seem to be going down. Forests are being cleared, new roads make it easier for people to reach the birds, and some people still hunt them illegally, even though they are protected by law in Indonesia.

The males' loud, repeated calls at dance trees make them easy to find. Protecting the tall dance trees, and bringing birdwatchers who pay to see the dances, could help both the birds and local communities.

BirdLife International's 2024 assessment for the IUCN Red List lists P. apoda as Least Concern with a decreasing trend. Tree cover within its mapped range fell by about 2.5 percent over three generations, suggesting a population decline of 1 to 19 percent (best estimate under 5 percent). The species was found in three of seven trade datasets, a high prevalence in trade.

It is protected under Indonesian law and listed on CITES Appendix II, yet Mulyani and colleagues report indications of continued illegal hunting, made easier by roads and by the males' loud, predictable calls. They recommend protecting lek trees, retaining big trees in logged forest, involving local people and developing birdwatching tourism.