Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise, also known as Wilhelmina's riflebird, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that Erwin Stresemann proposed is an intergeneric hybrid between a greater lophorina and magnificent bird-of-paradise, an identity since confirmed by DNA analysis.

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Corvoidea
Family:	Paradisaeidae
Hybrid:	Lophorina superba × Cicinnurus magnificus
Synonyms
Lamprothorax wilhelminae Meyer, 1894

History

Three adult male specimens are known of this hybrid, held in the American Museum of Natural History, Royal Natural History Museum of the Netherlands, and the State Museum of Zoology, Dresden. Two of the specimens come from the Arfak Mountains of north-western New Guinea, while the other is of unknown provenance. The bird was named as a species by Adolf Bernhard Meyer in 1894 after Wilhelmina, his wife who joined him during his travels in 1870–1872.

References

• Frith, Clifford B. & Beehler, Bruce M. (1998). The Birds of Paradise. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854853-9.
• Thörn, Filip; Soares, André E. R.; Müller, Ingo A.; Päckert, Martin; Frahnert, Sylke; van Grouw, Hein; Kamminga, Pepijn; Peona, Valentina; Suh, Alexander; Blom, Mozes P. K.; Irestedt, Martin (2024-06-08). "Contemporary intergeneric hybridization and backcrossing among birds-of-paradise". Evolution Letters: 1–15. doi:10.1093/evlett/qrae023.
• Meyer, A. B. (1894). Neue Vögel aus den Ostindischen Archipel. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Etnographischen Museums zu Dresden. 2.