Phyla of a Bird of Paradise

The bird of paradise most commonly known is a family of banana plants whose blooms resemble that of the bird with the same name. The bird of paradise is a beautiful and dramatic bird, with few predators as an adult, although snakes and large birds do prey on the chicks. The classification for the bird of paradise includes the phyla, family, class, order, and species. The bird of paradise first appeared in European literature in 1522, according to the San Diego Zoo.

  1. Features

    • The phyla of the bird of paradise is chordata, deriving from the Latin word chorda meaning cord. The vertebrates that belong to the phylum chordata are fish, mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. The non-vertebrate chordates are tunicates and lancelets, each are a different form of amphibian. The phyla chordata have bilateral bodies with distinguishable heads, tails and trunks (the center of the body). According to The Tree of Life Project, the most distinctive feature of the chordates is the nerve cord, a notochord which runs parallel to the nerve cord. Visceral clefts and arches. also known as gills and pharyngeals, are also distinctive features. The pharyngeal or visceral clefts will form differently according to the species. In humans this becomes the ears and eustachian tubes.

    Types

    • Bright colored male with long tail feathers

      The three subphylums for chordata are cephalochordata, urochordata and vertebrata. The subphylum for the bird of paradise is the vertabrata with the family Paradisaeidae. The distinguishing features include the endoskeleton, brain enclosed in the skull, kidney excretion, a ventral heart as part of a closed circulatory system, and genders of female and male. The bird of paradise is one member of this subphylum with 42 species, each of which are distinguishable by the bright colors, elongated plumage and fluffy ruffs. The most common birds of paradise include the king bird of paradise, the red bird of paradise, Wallace's standardwing, the raggiana bird of paradise, the black sicklebill, the greater bird of paradise, and the blue bird of paradise.

    Identification

    • Brightly colored male bird

      It is the male bird of paradise that sports the bright plumage. This is his tool for attracting female birds of paradise. The females are a dull brown in color and are smaller than the male, looking like the nightingale bird. The king and ribbon bird of paradise males are known by the long ribbon like tail feathers. The king bird of paradise is distinguished by his bright red colors, while the ribbon male is also has a bright blue beak and is darkly colored. The bird of paradise is one of the more dramatically colored and elaborate birds of the bird kingdom.

    The Facts

    • The bird of paradise is found in the regions of New Guinea, the neighboring islands and northeastern Australia. The feathers are a prized possession used to make headdresses and clothing. The male enters into a dramatic courting ritual splaying his feathers in a fan like appearance, showing of his brilliant colors, dancing and seeking to attract a female. Upon mating with a female the male departs to court yet another female, leaving the female to build the nest and rear the young on her own. The chicks are independent by 1 month old, in some cases hanging out with mom for a couple more weeks before leaving the nest. The female matures by the age of 1 year and the male by 2, but will not obtain the bright colored plumage until 4 to 7 years old.

    Fun Facts

    • The largest bird of paradise is the black sicklebill measuring at 3.6 feet. The smallest is the king bird of paradise measuring at 5.9 inches. The heaviest bird of paradise is the curl crested manucode weighing in at 15.8 oz., with the king bird of paradise as the lightest weighing in at 1.8 oz. The San Diego Zoo records the longest life span at 30 years in the zoos, with no information about life span in the wild. The female lays one to two eggs, with three a rarity, incubation period is 14 to 20 days. The blue bird of paradise, Wahnes's parotia and MacGregor's bird of paradise are listed as vulnerable on the conservation listings.