| Paradisaea | |
|---|---|
 Greater Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda) | |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Paradisaeidae |
| Genus | Paradisaea |
Paradisaea is a genus of birds-of-paradise. The genus is found on the island of New Guinea as well as the nearby islands groups of the Aru Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands and West Papua Islands. The species inhabit a range of forest types from sea level to mid-montane forests. Several species have highly restricted distributions, and all species have disjunct distributions. A 2009 study examining the mitochondrial DNA of the family found that the Paradisaea birds-of-paradise were in a clade with the genus Cicinnurus. It showed that the blue bird-of-paradise was a sister taxon to all the other species in this genus.
All are large, and sexually dimorphic. The plumage of the males includes characteristic grossly elongated flank plumes (which emerge from beneath the wings and strictly speaking are flank plumes pectoral plumes), and a pair of wire-like feathers emerging from the end of the tail. The flank plumes are used during breeding displays.
The name, Paradisaea, is the Latinized form of paradise. The local name in Indonesia is Cenderawasih, which means gift of love.
Species[]
Subgenus: Paradisaea Greater Bird-of-paradise (Linnaeus, 1758) (Paradisaea apoda) Goldie's Bird-of-paradise (Salvin & Godman, 1883) (Paradisaea decora) Emperor Bird-of-paradise (Cabanis, 1888) (Paradisaea guilielmi) Lesser Bird-of-paradise (Shaw, 1809) (Paradisaea minor) Raggiana Bird-of-paradise (P.L. Sclater, 1873) (Paradisaea raggiana) Red Bird-of-paradise (Daudin, 1800) (Paradisaea rubra) Subgenus: Paradisornis Blue Bird-of-paradise (Finsch & A.B. Meyer, 1885) (Paradisaea rudolphi)