Greater bird-of-paradise
| Greater bird-of-paradise | |
|---|---|
| Male at Bali Bird Park | |
| Female at Kuala Lumpur Bird Park | |
CITES Appendix II
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Paradisaeidae |
| Genus: | Paradisaea |
| Species: | P. apoda
|
| Binomial name | |
| Paradisaea apoda | |
Paradisaea apoda
| |
The greater bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda) is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea.
Carl Linnaeus named the species Paradisaea apoda, or "legless bird-of-paradise", because early trade skins to reach Europe were prepared without wings or feet by the indigenous New Guinean people; this led to the misconception that these birds were beautiful visitors from paradise that were kept aloft by their plumes and never touched the earth until death.
Greater bird-of-paradise on Indonesian rupiah
First side of the image: Obverse: Greater bird-of-paradise on a branch and face value.
Second side of the image: Reverse: Face value surrounded by country and year.