Maria's bird-of-paradise

Maria's bird-of-paradise, also known as Frau Reichenow's bird-of-paradise or Mrs. Reichenow's bird-of-paradise, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that is a presumptive hybrid species between an emperor bird-of-paradise and raggiana bird-of-paradise. It was named for the wife of the describer, German ornithologist Anton Reichenow.

Maria's bird-of-paradise
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Paradisaeidae
Genus:	Paradisaea
Species:	P. maria
Binomial name
Paradisaea maria Reichenow, 1894
Synonyms
Paradisaea guilielmi × Paradisaea raggiana augustaevictoriae

Description

Its measurements are largely intermediate between those of the parent taxa.^[1]

History

It was named as a supposed new species in 1894 before being largely accepted as a hybrid in the early 20th century. At least six adult male and one female specimens are known, from Sattelberg and the Finisterre Range of the Huon Peninsula in north-eastern New Guinea. The specimens are held by the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Berlin Natural History Museum.^[1] In 2018, another male specimen was described from the State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig, Germany.^[2]