Masked bowerbird
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Masked bowerbird
| image = Masked Bowerbird.jpg
| image_caption = Males displaying to a female masked bowerbird, Sericulus aureus, illustrated by John Gould (1804–1881)
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Sericulus
| species = aureus
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms = *Coracias aurea {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
- Oriolus aureus {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}}
}}
The masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus) is endemic to rainforests of New Guinea. It is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks. The female is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden below.
Behaviour
All male bowerbirds build bowers, which can be simple ground clearings or elaborate structures, to attract female mates. The masked bowerbird makes a simple avenue bower consisting of two rows of sticks and small numbers of decorations which may include forest fruits and snail shells.{{Cite journal |last=Frith |first=Clifford |last2=Frith |first2=Dawn |date=2020 |title=Masked Bowerbird (Sericulus aureus), version 1.0 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/flabow3/cur/introduction |journal=Birds of the World |language=en |doi=10.2173/bow.flabow3.01 |issn=2771-3105|url-access=subscription }} Like other congeneric species,{{Cite journal |last=Lenz |first=Norbert |date=1994-12-01 |title=Mating Behaviour and Sexual Competition in the Regent Bowerbird Sericulus chrysocephalus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1071/MU9940263 |journal=Emu - Austral Ornithology |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=263–272 |doi=10.1071/MU9940263 |issn=0158-4197|url-access=subscription }} field observations indicate that males spend comparitively little time at their bower and are quick to abandon the structure for a nearby rebuild after disturbance from competitor males. Such a rebuild can be completed in less than an hour.{{Cite web |title=Latest News {{!}} 2024 |url=https://www.ornis-birding.com/news/2024 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Ornis Birding |language=en}}
Taxonomy
The masked bowerbird was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Coracias aurea.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=108 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727013 }} He cited the earlier description and illustration of the "golden bird of paradise" by the English naturalist George Edwards.{{cite book | last=Edwards | first=George | author-link=George Edwards (naturalist) | year=1750 | title=A Natural History of Uncommon Birds | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author at the College of Physicians | volume=3 | page=112, Plate 112 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50196248 }} Linnaeus specified the type locality as Asia but this has been corrected to the Bird's Head Peninsula (Vogelkop) in northwestern New Guinea.{{cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=178 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485551 }} The specific epithet aureus is Latin meaning "golden.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=61 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n61/mode/1up }} The masked bowerbird is now one of four species placed in the genus Sericulus that was introduced in 1825 by the English ornithologist William Swainson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian treecreepers, Australasian wrens | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/lyrebirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=26 June 2024 }}
The masked bowerbird is distributed in and endemic to rainforests of New Guinea. This species is the first bowerbird described by naturalists. Because of the male's beautifully coloured plumage, it was previously thought to be a bird-of-paradise. Indeed, the male flame bowerbird also has a courtship display along with his bower. He twists his tails and his wings to the side, and then shakes his head quickly.
The masked bowerbird is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bowerbird|state=expanded}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q777185}}