Alternative names: White-billed Sicklebill; Lowland Sicklebill; White-billed Bird-of-paradise; Bruijn's Bird-of-paradise
- Drepanornis bruijnii
Epimachus bruijnii
Identification
Male 35cm 13.8 inches, 160–164 g. Female 34cm 13.4 inches, 184–207 g.
A fairly large Bird-of-paradise with a very long, sickle-shaped bill and a medium-length tail
Male
- Long, pale, sickle-shaped bill
- Variable dark brown to blackish crown, area at bill base, chin, throat and ear coverts
- Lead-grey bare facial skin around eye
- Erectile tuft over eye iridescent blue-purple and/or red-purple
- Dull brown mantle and upper back, cinnamon-brown lower back, rump and uppertail coverts
- Brown upperwing
- Olive-green to grey underparts with a line of black feathers at the sides
- Dark brown eye
Female
- Similar to male but without any iridescence
- Paler above
- Pale underparts barred blackish-brown
Juveniles are undescribed, immatures are similar to females.
Distribution
Endemic to northern New Guinea.
Due to deforestation and habitat lost on this limited range species, this species is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It may form a superspecies with Black-billed Sicklebill and both are sometimes placed in the genus Epimachus.
Habitat
Lowland rainforest. Occurs from sea-level up to 180m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on fruits and arthropods. Takes more fruit than Black-billed Sicklebill.
Forages mostly in canopy. Sometimes in mixed-species flocks with other Birds-of-pardise and Pitohuis.
Breeding
Display at least in August, breeding probably at least in November. A polygynous species. The male advertises from one or more traditional high perches and performs its display. The territory around the perch is only occupied during the display season. The female builds and attends the nest alone. No information about nest, clutch size and incubation.
Vocalisation
Male calls are variable and combine a series of strained or hollow sounding whistles, rising or falling in level, at times combined with quiet gurgling notes or coughs, e.g. "wik-kew kwéér kwéér kwer, kor kor kor", resonably high pitched and loud enough to be heard at a considerable distance. When feeding a questioning "whehn".
Movement
Presumably a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved October 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Pale-billed Sicklebill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 6 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pale-billed_Sicklebill
