Species profile
MacGregor's Bowerbird
Amblyornis macgregoriae
Quick answer
We heard calls and saw two bowers at 1,525 and 1,565 m: one on the ridge crest, the other on a broad slope considerably below the crest. The bowers comprised a circular moss platform 1.07 or 1.22 m in diameter, with a raised rim 15 or 23 cm wide and 15 cm tall, built around a central sapling. Sticks up to 25 cm long were piled around the sapling to a height of 0.6 or 1.5 ȱm. ȱTheȱplatform’sȱfloorȱconsistedȱofȱsoftȱbrownȱearthȱorȱmoss. ȱDecorationsȱatȱoneȱbowerȱ involved dozens of small (3 mm) straw-coloured seeds, pieces of black charcoal on the rim, and two piles of black charcoal outside the rim and on opposite sides of the bower from each other. Decorations at the other consisted of several dozen pieces of black charcoal on the rim; sprigs of 4 - mm blue berries hung from seven thin saplings; an 8 - cm piece of blue cloth on the rim; and, outside the rim, several dozen 8 - mm dull olive-brown fruits, and one bright green beetle skeleton. The charcoal and cloth had presumably been brought from a considerable distance.
- Scientific name
- Amblyornis macgregoriae
- Family
- Ptilonorhynchidae
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Genus
- Amblyornis
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
Recording MacGregor's Bowerbird in your journal
When you see this bird, log the sighting with the date, the place and any photos. If it's your first, Feather Journal marks it as a lifer and adds it to your life list automatically — no spreadsheet, no re-typing.
Related species in Ptilonorhynchidae
- Ailuroedus melanotus (Ailuroedus melanotus)
- Alphachlamydera cerviniventris (Alphachlamydera cerviniventris)
- Archbold's Bowerbird (Archboldia papuensis)
- Arfak Catbird (Ailuroedus arfakianus)
- Black-capped Catbird (Ailuroedus melanocephalus)
- Black-eared Catbird (Ailuroedus melanotis)
- Fawn-breasted Bowerbird (Chlamydera cerviniventris)
- Fire-maned Bowerbird (Sericulus bakeri)