Golden Bowerbird

About the Golden Bowerbird

The golden bowerbird (Prionodura newtoniana) is a species of passerine bird in the bowerbird family Ptilonorhynchidae. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region. The golden bowerbird was formally described in 1883 by the English zoologist Charles Walter De Vis based on a specimen collected by Kendall Broadbent near the Tully River in North Queensland, Australia. De Vis introduced a new genus Prionodura for the species and coined the binomial name Prionodura newtoniana. The genus name combined the Ancient Greek πριονωδης/prionōdēs meaning "serrated" with ουρα/oura meaning "tail". The specific epithet newtoniana was chosen to honour the English ornithologist Alfred Newton. The golden bowerbird is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The male golden bowerbird has a brown head and brown wings which are bright yellow-gold underneath, as are the tail, crest and nape. The female is olive brown with ash-gray underparts. Immatures look similar to the female except their eyes are brown. This is the smallest species of bowerbird.

The golden bowerbird has a patchy distribution in northeastern... Wikipedia →