Alternative names: Australian Regent Bowerbird; Golden Regentbird
- Sericulus chrysocephalus
Identification
24.5cm (9¾ in). An unmistakable Bowerbird.
Male
- Deep yellow forehead, crown, nape and upper mantle
- Remaining upperparts and underside jet-black
- Most of wing golden-yellow with black tips and leading edges, rest of wing black
- Bright yellow eye
- Orange-yellow bill
- Blackish-brown legs
Female
- Dull dirty off-white to drag grey on head, finely streaked and mottled and with blackish crown
- Olive-brown upperparts, mantle spotted off-white
- Dirty off-white to creamish below, broadly barred blackish-brown
- Broad central line of dull sooty-black feathers down throat
- Dark brown eye
- Blackish bill
Immatures resemble females. Young males have yellow eyes, becoming browner with age.
Distribution
Photo by Hans&Judy Beste
Yarraman State Forest, Queensland, Australia, November 2016
Coastal zone of eastern Australia from east Queensland south to east New South Wales (immediately north of Sydney).
Locally common where habitat remains in large patches.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
May form a superspecies with Fire-maned Bowerbird and Flame Bowerbird. Two cases of hybrids with Satin Bowerbird reported.
Habitat
Subtropical rainforest and adjacent more open habitats like urban gardens. Occurs from sea-level up to 900m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on fruits but takes also flowers, seeds, leaves and insects.
Forages in upper level of trees, often with other fruit-eating species like Satin Bowerbird or Pied Currawong.
Breeding
Breeding season from September to February. A polygynous species. The male builds and attends a bower to attract females. They build a nest alone and also breed alone.
The bower is a so-called avenue bower built with sticks. It's decorated with green leaves, pale flowers and petals, seeds, fruits, snail shells and human-made blue items. Bowers are often destroyed by other males. The male shows several display postures when a female arrives.
The female builds the nest which is a shallow saucer of twigs and leaves, lined with leaves, placed in a clump of mistletoe or a thin fork. The nest may be well away from the male's bower. Lays 1 - 3 eggs. Only the female incubates and cares for the young.
Movements
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. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Regent Bowerbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Regent_Bowerbird
External Links
