Fun Great Bowerbird Facts For Kids
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These birds are well recognized due to their unique behavior of decorating bowers. The great bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) exhibits this one-of-its-kind behavior to attract a potential mate.
Bowers even earned their famous name due to this behavioral practice itself. Bowerbirds are mostly found in northern Australia and are very often considered loud.
Males take a huge interest in decorating their bowers using small objects found nearby, mainly in the colors green and red. It's very interesting to learn how male bowerbirds fill the entrance of their bowers with colorful objects of all kinds, ranging from green to colorful blue hues, in order to attract female birds to mate with.
Females hold the responsibility of taking care of the nest and raising the young birds after the mating season. Meanwhile, the male great bowerbird defends and displays his bower. These bowerbirds are one of the 20 bowerbird species which call Australia and New Guinea their home.
Although these pink crest birds are sure to have caught your interest, we have more in store for you. Check out our bower bird and flame bowerbird fact pages to learn more about a range of other birds.
Great Bowerbird Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a great bowerbird?
A great bowerbird, Chlamydera nuchalis, is a species of bird and it's seen most commonly in Australia.
What class of animal does a great bowerbird belong to?
This species belongs to the Aves class and the Ptilonorhynchdae family.
How many great bowerbirds are there in the world?
These birds have around 20 species in Australia alone. Even though an exact number of their population is yet not calculated, it can be assumed that these bowers have a healthy, stable population.
Where does a great bowerbird live?
The great bowerbird, Chlamydera nuchalis, is commonly spotted in Queensland or NSW. Bower birds of this species are well spread throughout western and south-eastern Australia and bowers prefer to live in rainforests and shrublands.
What is a great bowerbird's habitat?
This species primarily lives in dry and open woodlands. Mangrove swamps are also a favored habitat of these bowerbirds. Monsoon forests and the margin of vine forests are also popular.
Who do great bowerbirds live with?
Bowerbirds are mostly seen in the northern side of Australia, thus they are found alongside many other species living there. Bowerbirds are also found in central and western Australia, and in regions of south-western Australia. Some other birds found in Australia include the galah and the great crested flycatcher.
How long does a great bowerbird live?
Bowerbirds have a high life expectancy compared to other bird species. A great bowerbird can live up to 10 years and some satin bowerbirds have even lived up to 25-26 years!
How do they reproduce?
The mating rituals of this bird who belongs to the family Ptilonorhynchidae are both interesting and thoughtful. Males build and decorate a bower and if a female likes it, she proceeds to enter the bower.
The mating ritual ends with the male performing a little dance whilst holding its favorite stick from the bower in his beak. Once the breeding season ends, the great bowerbird female raises the young birds alone and males defend the nest.
What is their conservation status?
Their conservation status is Least Concern as all the species of bowers have a pretty good population and they are not under any considerable threat at the moment.
Great Bowerbird Fun Facts
What do great bowerbirds look like?
Bowerbirds have many different species and all of them showcase unique and different colors. A male bowerbird of this species has a gray-brown body with a crest, if you look closely you might also see neon pink features on its head.
How cute are they?
Bowerbirds are cute both in the way they look and in their behavioral traits. These birds have around 20 species and they come in many different colors. A bowerbird is without a doubt one of the most adorable and interesting creatures in the animal kingdom.
How do they communicate?
Visual communication is an important way for a great bowerbird to communicate with its partner. This northern Australian resident also sings and makes noises to communicate or report a threat while guarding its nest and protecting its young.
How big is a great bowerbird?
Great bowerbirds have a considerably large height and length. A bowerbird male of this species can be anywhere around 15-16 in (38.1-40.64 cm) long. In comparison, a great bowerbird is four times bigger than a yellow-billed cuckoo.
How fast can a great bowerbird fly?
The average bowerbird flight speed isn't very extraordinary. These birds fly like any other average bird in northern Australia. Their exact speed is not known.
How much does a great bowerbird weigh?
A great bowerbird male weighs slightly more than a female. You can consider an average bowerbird male to weigh around the range of 0.44-0.50 lb (0.2-0.23 kg). A bowerbird male weighs almost the same as an Amazon parrot.
What are their male and female names of the species?
There aren't any separate names assigned to male and female great bowerbirds. Both males and females can be commonly addressed as Chlamydera nuchalis, their scientific name.
What would you call a baby great bowerbird?
Newborn baby birds are commonly referred to as either nestlings or hatchlings, so a baby great bowerbird can also be addressed in the same way.
What do they eat?
The great bowerbird, Chlamydera nuchalis, is omnivorous. These birds eat fruits, insects, and seeds. Fruits provide plenty of energy, allowing males to do their everyday chores.
Are they dangerous?
Bowerbirds are generally not considered dangerous at all. These birds love to mimick sound and play with objects, making them quite cute.
Would they make a good pet?
Bowerbirds can be very good pets. They come in various colors and can be a very adorable companion for your family.
Did you know...
Bowerbirds are the perfectionists of nature. They love to add fresh flowers, feathers, and bottle caps to decorate their bower. This is done as part of a mating technique known as 'forced perspective'.
Males build bowers from sticks and are very competitive about this. These birds also sometimes steal an object from an opponent's bower to make their own look better to further impress female great bowers.
The male bird takes the mating season very seriously and uses its own saliva to make paint for decorating the bower.
What is unique about bowerbirds?
The male great bowerbird is one of the most interesting birds you can come across. These birds use a technique called forced perspective to attract mates. Female great bowerbirds are impressed by the uniquely decorated green bower of a male, and this practice influences which bird the female chooses to mate with.
Different types of bowerbirds
A satin bowerbird is often called the lover of blue. Satin bowerbirds build their bower with sticks and decorate it with blue-colored objects. Satin bowerbird males often live on the east coast and have blue-colored bodies. Another unique species of bowerbird is the tooth-billed bowerbird.
Tooth-billed bowerbirds take pleasure in mimicking other species' sounds and decorating their bower with green leaves. Golden bowerbirds are also very famous bowerbirds. Unlike other bowerbirds, they don't build avenue-shaped bowers. These birds are also considered very rare.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our Gouldian finch facts and lyrebird facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bowerbird coloring pages.
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