Bronze Parotia

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Historical Review. We surveyed the literature, all known specimens from relevant ornithological collections, and the broader historical record in order to review the 121 - year taxonomic history of the discovery of P. berlepschi, its long period of prolonged taxonomic uncertainty, and its discovery in the wild. External Appearance. We examined specimens and / or photographs of specimens from the American Museum of Natural History in New York (AMNH), Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense in Bogor, Indonesia (MZB), Senckenberg Museum at Frankfurt-on-Main in Germany (SMF) and Naturhistorisches Museum Wein in Vienna (NHMW). ES examined and provided photographs of the three AMNH specimens. BB and Chris Milensky of the Smithsonian Institution (SI) examined and photographed the MZB specimens in Indonesia and in Washington, DC while on loan to SI. Curator Gerald Meyer provided photographs of three SMF specimens. Szabolcs Kókay examined and provided photographs of one specimen from NHMW. Photographs of free living and handheld P. berlepschi came from TL and BB. TL photographs of wild birds are archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and can be accessed online directly by appending desired catalog number to the URL: macaulaylibrary. org / image / catalog # (e. g., macaulaylibrary. org / image / 48065581). TL provided photographs of wild P. carolae used for comparisons of living birds, which are similarly archived for reference. ES made all video recordings. BB and ES made sound recordings. Like photographs, video and sound recordings used for analysis are archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and can be accessed online at macaulaylibrary. org / video / catalog # for videos or macaulaylibrary. org / audio / catalog # for sounds. Plumage and morphological comparisons were made between Parotia carolae and P. berlepschi. Because living individuals of nominate P. carolae from the Weyland Mountains of western New Guinea have not been documented, comparisons of living birds are made using images from within P. carolae complex, which (excluding P. berlepschi) includes four named subspecies. Unless specifically noted, the characters used herein are not known to be variable within the P. carolae complex. Thus, when we compare P. berlepschi to P. carolae for the most part and unless explicitly stated, this comparison applies to the entire P. carolae complex since the characters that vary between P. berlepschi and P. carolae are not significantly variable within the P. carolae complex. Field Observations. Observations, photographs, video and sound recordings of wild birds were collected as possible over the course of three expeditions to a field site known informally as “ Bog Camp ” in an upland forest clearing in the western half of the Foja Mountains (2 ° 34.363 ' S, 138 ° 43.032 ' E). Expeditions took place in 2005, 2007, and 2008. The 2005 expedition was attended by BB and took place from 15 Nov – 9 Dec. The 2007 expedition was attended by BB and TL and took place from 14 – 25 June. The final expedition to Bog Camp in 2008 was attended by ES and TL and took place from 27 Oct – 26 Nov. During each of these expeditions, time spent observing P. berlepschi varied, but the most prolonged effort was during 2008. In all, two display courts were observed, one very near the Bog Camp clearing by BB in 2005 and one along the flank of a ridge to the south of Bog Camp by ES and TL in 2008. Vocal and Behavioral Analysis. Behavioral observations, photographs and audio and video recordings were made by BB, TL, and ES. Videos of P. carolae in the wild were recorded by ES. Sound analysis was done using Raven Pro version 1.5 (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA). Audio recordings examined are MLNS audio catalog numbers: 139542, 139631, 139538, 139536 and 163704. Video specimens examined are MLNS video catalog numbers: 457925 and 457926.