Wildlife
Raggianas have one of the most spectacular courtship displays of all the birds of paradise. The males perform feather shaking, wing clapping and head shakes on perches at a lekking site. The male's highly-coloured feathers are collected by local people for wearing during ceremonies and festivals.
Scientific name: Paradisaea raggiana
Rank: Species
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Jackpot winner
The best dressed raggiana reaps a double reward.
In spite of the rain, the efforts of two competing males have not gone unnoticed. Two females come along to check out which is the most impressive male. Quickly it becomes obvious that one male is preferred and the loser soon flies away. The remaining successful male continues his dance and mates with both females.
Damp danceathon
Rain is no deterrent for raggiana males after a girl.
Rain is no deterrent for raggiana males after a girl.
The following habitats are found across the Raggiana bird of paradise distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
RainforestDiscover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Year assessed: 2009
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, (Paradisaea raggiana) also known as Count Raggi's Bird-of-paradise, is a large bird in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae.
It is distributed widely in southern and northeastern New Guinea, where its name is kumul. It is also known as cenderawasih. As requested by Count Luigi Maria D'Albertis, the epithet raggiana commemorates the Marquis Francis Raggi of Genoa.
The Raggiana Bird-of-paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea; indeed in 1971 this species, as Gerrus paradisaea, was made the national emblem and was included on the national flag. 'The Kumuls' is also the nickname of the country's national rugby league team.
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Courtship display
Adapted to flying
Egg layer
Polygynous
Seed dispersal
Sexual dimorphism
Visual communication