King of Saxony Bird of Paradise (Pteridophora alberti)

An adult male of this species presents an extra-ordinary appearance, having 2 head plumes up to 50 cm long extending from behind his eyes. The plumes sprout from his forehead and are twice the length of his body. Each wire-like plume shaft, instead of carrying normal feather barbs, is decorated on one side only with a line of small sky-blue platelets which are so hard and shiny they resemble enamel. The female is a dull greyish colour, with scalloped underparts. They occur in primary rainforest at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,800 m.

A male King of Saxony Bird of Paradise's favoured display perch is always a thin dangling vine. During the courtship display, the bird throws his two extraordinary plumes forward and then, flexing his legs, he kicks repeatedly downwards, hissing loudly. He greets a receptive female with a sweep of the plumes before mating.