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23

Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) Alternate name(s): "Queensland Bowerbird", "Great Grey Bowerbird" Size: 33-38 cm Weight: 165-240 g

Australia: Family Group 23 Family Group 23 Table Paradise Riflebird Victoria's Riflebird Magnificent Riflebird Trumpet Manucode Australian Raven Forest Raven Little Raven Little Crow Torresian Crow White-winged Chough Apostlebird Green Catbird Spotted Catbird Golden Bowerbird Regent Bowerbird Satin Bowerbird Tooth-billed Bowerbird Spotted Bowerbird Western Bowerbird Fawn-breasted Bowerbird Great Bowerbird Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Great Bowerbirds are the largest Australian bowerbirds. Their plumage is cryptic. The front, from the throat to the undertail coverts, the forehead, sides of the head and flanks are all-grey. At the back of the head the males have a lilac to blue/purple nuchal crest. The nape of the neck and the rump are grey. The wing feathers are dark-grey, with grey edge lining. The tail is also dark-grey. The only difference between the two sexes is that females are smaller and often do not have a nuchal crest. The eyes have brown irises. The stout, decurved bill is dark-grey; the legs and feet are grey. Juveniles are more fawn-coloured where adults are grey and do not have a crest.

Taxonomy, classification See Great Bowerbird at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Great Bowerbird is available HERE . Except for a narrow coastal strip along the East coast of Cape York peninsula, northward of about Cairns, QLD, Great Bowerbirds are found in tropical North Australia, roughly northward of a line connecting Broome, WA, in the West with Mt. Isa and Mackay, QLD, in the East. There are two races of Great Bowerbirds, both of which are endemic to tropical northern Australia. Nominate race "nuchalis" populates the Kimberley, WA, eastward of about Broome, WA, all of the Top End of the NT (to about the geographical latitude of Broome) and along the South coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, into western QLD. Their range ends to the North of Mt. Isa, QLD, and goes as far East as the Leichhardt River, QLD. Race "orientalis" is found to the East of the geographical longitude of the southern-most tip of the Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD, near the confluence of the Leichhardt River. They are found almost everywhere on Cape York peninsula (except a narrow eastern coastal strip). Their range extends southward to about the latitude of Mt. Isa, QLD (but does NOT include Mt. Isa). Great Bowerbirds have a preference for open forest and woodland, often near water courses.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "nuchalis" B. Hensen reports finding Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", occasionally in various locations in and around Darwin, NT. We first spotted a Great Bowerbird, race "nuchalis", at Lake Copperfield near Pine Creek, NT, in August 2014. At least two Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", were heard calling from dense shrubbery in dunes behind mangroves in an intertidal wetland at East Point, Darwin, NT, in August 2014. J. Greaves reports spotting several Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", in various locations in northern Australia: at Alyangula, Groote Eylandt, NT, in September 2014; at the Broome Bird Observatory, Broome, WA, in April 2015; at Maxwell Creek, Melville Island, off Darwin, NT, in November 2016. H. Mouritsen reports finding Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", in several different locations in and around Darwin, NT, in October 2015. P. Brown found Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", at Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, in April 2018, and at Keep River NP, NT, in November 2018. A. Ross-Taylor reports spotting Great Bowerbirds, race "nuchalis", in Katherine, NT, in July 2020. Race "orientalis" M. Mearns reports spotting a Great Bowerbird, race "orientalis", in Weipa, near the confluence of the Embley River into the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the western side of Cape York peninsula, QLD, in October 2008. R. Russell finds Great Bowerbirds, race "orientalis", regularly at Mount Molloy, QLD. M. Eaton also found Great Bowerbirds, race "orientalis", at Mount Molloy, QLD, in July 2018, and at the Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, in August 2019. M. Mearns also found a Great Bowerbird, race "orientalis", at Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, in September 2019. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports spotting them at the same location in December 2020.

Photos

Race "nuchalis"

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Near-frontal view of a male Great Bowerbird displaying its nuchal crest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a male Great Bowerbird displaying its nuchal crest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a male Great Bowerbird displaying its nuchal crest (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Dorsal view of a male Great Bowerbird outside its bower (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Close-up view of a male Great Bowerbird's nuchal crest (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Male Great Bowerbird working on its bower; while not in display posture, the bird's nuchal crest is well-hidden
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Great Bowerbird with a fruit, possibly a native fig (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Near-lateral view of a female Great Bowerbird; note how much paler this bird is compared to the males shown above
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Lateral view of a female Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird with a fruit, possibly a native fig (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird inspecting fruit (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a Great Bowerbird; the bird's prominent yellow-orange gape indicates that it is probably a juvenile
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Broome Bird Observatory, Broome, WA, April 2015]

Close-up near-lateral/ventral view of a juvenile(?) Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Pine Creek, NT, January 2020]

Lateral view of a Great Bowerbird; the remnant pale gape indicates that it is probably a juvenile bird - it seems to be scavenging (or collecting trinkets?) from the local rubbish tip (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Maxwell Creek, Melville Island, off Darwin, NT, November 2016]

Close-up near-dorsal/ventral view of a juvenile(?) Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Pine Creek, NT, January 2020]

Race "orientalis"

ADULT

MALE

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, December 2020]

Near-lateral view of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, July 2018]

Lateral view of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, July 2018]

FEMALE

Close-up lateral view of a female Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, December 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, September 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Great Bowerbird; note the orange gape (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Juvenile Great Bowerbird learning how to open a seed pod; again note the orange gape (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Musgrave Roadhouse, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Breeding information

Twitcher's tip

A bower is NOT a nest - it is a male bird's courting alley. Nests, built by female birds, are in fact kept well away from bowers.

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/roaming

Elementary unit: Solitary

Male birds are sedentary, females are roaming.

Bowers

Male Great Bowerbirds try to attract as many females to their territory, and thus their bower, as they can.

View through the alley of a Great Bowerbird's bower
[Lake Copperfield, Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

As opposed to the bowers of other species of bowerbird (e.g. ), which are all open at the top, a Great Bowerbird's bower can be completely covered by a dome
[Lake Copperfield, Pine Creek, NT, August 2014]

Male Great Bowerbird re-arranging trinkets outside its bower; note the female inside the bower, inspecting it
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin, NT, August 2013]

Bower of a male Great Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, September 2019]

Great Bowerbird's bower (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Abandoned Great Bowerbird bower (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Food, Diet

Frontal view of a Great Bowerbird with a native fig (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, June 2007]

Frontal view of a female Great Bowerbird with a fruit, possibly a native fig (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Yeah... there are always those who can do better! Lateral view of a Great Bowerbird with two native figs
(photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Mount Molloy, QLD, March 2011]

Close-up near-lateral view of a male Great Bowerbird dispatching a cicada (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP, QLD, December 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird with a fruit, possibly a native fig (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Lake Argyle, near Kununurra, WA, April 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Great Bowerbird feeding on fruit (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Ventral view of a Great Bowerbird with a fruit (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, September 2018]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

grtbowr_pb_20181118.m4a

nuchalis (Inland NT)

Hissing/grunting calls (other birds in foreground)

© PB

More Great Bowerbird sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Fri, 15 September 2023, 4:58 +00:00