Feeding Observations of a female Crested Bird of Paradise

At 07:45 on 10 October 1987, a female Crested Bird of Paradise Cnemophilus macgregoriae was observed feeding in a shrub on the edge of the grasslands at Tari Gap, Southern Highlands Province at c.2780m. The shrub Symplocos cochinchinensis (Loureiro) S. Moore (Symplocaceae) was typical of the area standing c.4m tall and having dense foliage. The bird moved about the outer twigs of the shrub selecting small (4 x 3mm) green berries, apparently at random. The berries were hard with very little flesh covering the woody seed and were borne on short spikes amongst the leaves.

Voucher specimen at UPNG for S.cochinchinensis is Hicks & Hicks #4. I would like to thank Paul Katik for identifying the food plant.

First published in Muruk 3(1): 15