Silktail
| Silktail | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Rhipiduridae, see text |
| Genus: |
Lamprolia Finsch, 1874 |
| Species: | L. victoriae |
| Binomial name | |
|
Lamprolia victoriae Finsch, 1874 |
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The silktail (Lamprolia victoriae) is a species of bird endemic to Fiji. It is the only member of the genus Lamprolia. This beautiful bird looks superficially like a diminutive bird-of-paradise but it is actually closely related to the fantails.
The systematic position of the silktail has been a long-standing mystery. When describing the species Otto Finsch wrote "I scarcely remember a bird which has puzzled me in respect of its generic position so much as this curious little creature". It has variously been placed with the birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae), the Australasian robins (Petroicidae) and the fairy-wrens (Maluridae). Since 1980 it has generally been considered to be an ancient and aberrant monarch flycatcher. A 2009 molecular study placed the species as a sister to the pygmy drongo of the highlands of New Guinea, and the two of these as a sister clade to the fantails (Rhipiduridae).
The genus Lamprolia is named after the diminutive of lampros (Ancient Greek) for splendid or brilliant. Finsch named the species after Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, who was then Crown Princess of Germany. The subspecies L. v. kleinschmidti is named for Theodor Kleinschmidt, a collector from Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg, who obtained the first specimens.
The silktail is a small black bird, measuring around 12 centimetres (4.7 in) and weighing 16 to 21 g (0.56–0.74 oz). It is a small, dumpy bird with long rounded wings, and a short rounded tail. The plumage of the male is velvet black with metallic blue iridescent spangling on the crown and breast, and silky white lower-back patch that travels most of the length down the tail. The margin of the tail is black, sometimes this tip has the same iridescence as other parts of the body. The female is similar to the male, except less glossy, and immature birds are duller than the adults and may have buffy rumps and backs. The irises of this species are dark, and the legs and bill are blackish. The bill is heavy and slightly hooked at the end. The legs are long and the feet strong. The subspecies L. v. kleinschmidti is smaller than the nominate race and has more iridescence plumage than the nominate.
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Wikipedia