Regent Bowerbird

Sericulus chrysocephalus

Males are jet black with a molten gold crown. Decorates a stick bower with shells and berries to impress.

Population: Unquantified; described as locally fairly common, population trend suspected decreasing (not sufficiently rapid to approach Vulnerable thresholds)
Habitat: Subtropical/tropical moist lowland and montane rainforest and forest margins, including dense liana thickets and gullies; also uses adjacent open forest, urban areas and arable land, from sea level to about 1,000-1,030 m
Fun fact: Male Regent Bowerbirds mix plant material with saliva to make a grey-blue or green "paint," which they apply to the inner walls of their avenue-style bower using a wad of leaves as a brush — one of the few known cases of tool use in birds.
Range: Endemic to eastern Australia, from central/southeast Queensland south through northeastern New South Wales, largely east of the Great Dividing Range (BirdLife Extent of Occurrence approximately 315,000 km²)
Diet: Mainly fruits and berries gleaned from the rainforest canopy and upper foliage, supplemented opportunistically with insects and other invertebrates; disperses seeds via fruit consumption
Size: 0.27 m

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