The King of Saxony or Alberti has
described in the 1894 bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s club by Adolf
Bernard Meyer of Dresden Museum. The
bird name was given in the honor to the King of Saxony, Albert of Saxony, whose
wife gave her name to the Queen Carola’s Parotia. The King of Saxony
bird-of-paradise is about 22 cm long, referred to as "Kiss-a-ba" by
the natives of Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea, as a human
interpretation of the male's loud call.
The male bird is black and yellow
with dark brown iris, brownish grey legs a black bill with bright aqua-green
gape and two long 50cm scallped, enamel-blue brow-plumes, which can be
independently erected at the bird’s will. The male’s bird ornamental head
plumes are so unusual that, when it was first specimen brought to Europe, it
was thought to be a fake. However, the female is greyish brown with barred
underparts. The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise likes to eat mainly fruits, false
figs, berries, insects and arthropods. King-of-Saxony birds-of-paradise
communicate with vocalizations, body posturing and movements. The male’s song is
radio-static hiss, simultaneously last 4 to 5 seconds. Moreover male birds are courting females
perform elaborate movements with their occipital plumes during their songs, as
well as varying posture to better attract the female’s attention.
The King of Saxony
bird-of-paradise, inhabits the montane forests of New Guinea, and distributed
from the Weyland Mountains in Western New Guinea to the Kratke Range in Papua
New Guinea. The birds is habitually inhabits usually 1500 to 2500 meters above
sea level. The adult males are territorial; guard its territory from perches
places in the tops of tall trees and sings to compete with males in neighboring
territories. David Attenborough first time filmed the bird’s footage of mating
ritual of the bird in 1996. There’s no known predator to King-of-Saxony
birds-of-paradise however, humans being are notorious to hunt them for their
exquisite plumage. The bird ecosystem role is likely to aid in seed dispersal
of the fruits they eat. The adult male birds are forage mostly in the upper
canopy, but females and males with female-plumage have been spotted in all
levels of forest growth.
The Male Moulted head-plumes are
also hunted for their highly prized long plumes used by natives for ceremonial
decoration, but regardless of this the species remains fairly common in parts
of its range. It is considered to be of least concern on the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species. The male birds habitually moves his occipital plumes while
singing. The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise population has not been quantified
but in large numbers and does not approach the thresholds for vulnerable under
the range size criterion. In spite of facts, the population seems to be
decreasing and decline 30% in more than 10 years of three generations. However,
the bird is evaluated as least concern and reported to be widespread and
common. The King of Saxony bird skulls have small depressions behind the
occipital cavity to let for the musculature essential to control the occipital
plumes. Moreover The New Guinea people of Wola imitate the courtship displays
of P. alberti in their ritualistic dances; and use the occipital plumes in
traditional headdresses.
Courtship displays and nesting of
Pteridophora alberti take place between September and April. Only one egg is
laid per clutch; and incubation of this single egg appears to last longer than
22 days. Morever age of sexual maturity is also unknown for this species, but
sexual maturity usually takes 1 to 2 years for most birds of paradise.
