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Regent Bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus) Alternate name(s): "Regent-bird" Aboriginal name(s): "nyangga"/"nangga-nangga"/"nyanggar"/"ngadjangah" [eastern bundjalung] Size: 25-29 cm Body mass: 80-135 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 Regent Bowerbirds are small bowerbirds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Regent Bowerbirds are all black and yellow. The frons, crown, nape of the neck and the shoulders, plus the flight feathers on the upperwing, are yellow. The forehead can be more orange, even reddish. The rest of the body is black. The eyes have yellow irises; the almost straight bill is yellow-orange. The legs and feet are dark-grey. Female Regent Bowerbirds have a highly crypic plumage. Both the front (from the chest to the undertail coverts) and the back (from the nape of the neck to the rump) are fawn with dark grey-brown scalloping throughout. They have a black throat patch. The head, except for the black crown, is fawn to light-brown, with some scalloping, with a darker brown neck band and a dark-grey band across the base of the nape of the neck. The flight feathers are brown. The eyes have dark-brown irises. The bill is black; the legs and feet are dark-grey. Immature males take about 5 years to moult gradually into their first adult plumage, from being similar to females, via a stage when first the colour of the bill and the irises will change, to full adult plumage.

Taxonomy, classification See Regent 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 Regent Bowerbird is available HERE . Regent Bowerbirds are endemic to Australia. They are found along the East coast of the Australian continent and the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Their range extends from about the Hunter River, NSW, to about Dipperu NP in QLD. Their distribution North of about Gympie, QLD, is patchy. Regent Bowerbirds can be found in and around rainforest. They adapt quite well to the presence of humans and are also found in or near dense growth in urban parks and gardens.

Sightings Click here for sighting information A pair of Regent Bowerbirds was first spotted by us at Booti Booti NP, NSW, in June 2009. More Regent Bowerbirds were spotted by us at Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, in July 2009. This location is on the western fringe, or outside, the species' general range. Regent Bowerbirds were also found by us in Dorrigo NP, NSW, and in Iluka NR. A. Ross-Taylor and M. Eaton and other contributors report spotting Regent Bowerbirds regularly at O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD. E. Scott reports seeing Regent Bowerbirds regularly at Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW. B. Hensen reports spotting Regent Bowerbirds at Saltwater NP, near Old Bar, NSW, in February 2018. At the time, when a female was observed feeding a dependent juvenile, a male was found making use of the time when females were busy elsewhere to go through a moult.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Lateral view of a pair of Regent Bowerbirds, female at front left (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, October 2024]

Ventral view of a male Regent Bowerbird in flight, left, with a female looking on (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, December 2016]

MALE

Close-up full-frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2020]

Frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2020]

Close-up frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2020]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2020]

Near-frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird, with a clear view of its orange/red frons (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Near-frontal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, August 2013]

Near-lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Near-lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Close-up near-lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2020]

Lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, October 2024]

Close-up lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, October 2024]

Lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, August 2013]

Lateral view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, October 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Dorsal/ventral view of a moulting male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Saltwater NP, near Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Frontal view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Near-lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, August 2013]

Lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird feeding a juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Saltwater NP, near Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a female Regent Bowerbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2020]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a female Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, November 2024]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

NB: Photos below are sorted by descending age.

Frontal view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird; note the yellow-orange bill, yellow iris and the emerging golden feathers (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Near-frontal view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Frontal view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird; note the yellow-orange bill and yellow iris; this bird has very few golden feathers on its cheeks and nape of the neck (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2024]

Close-up near-lateral view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird; note the yellow-orange bill and yellow iris; this bird has very few golden feathers on its cheeks and nape of the neck (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2024]

Near-lateral view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, January 2017]

Near-lateral view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird; note the bill starting to turn orange bill and the iris starting to turn yellow (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2024]

Near-lateral view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird looking sideways; here the bill is still black but the iris is starting to turn yellow (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, November 2024]

Lateral view of an immature male Regent Bowerbird; note the yellow iris (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, August 2013]

Lateral view of a female Regent Bowerbird feeding a juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Saltwater NP, near Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Breeding information

Twitcher's tip

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

Regent Bowerbirds can interbreed with Satin Bowerbirds. The offspring of such pairs are called "Rawnsley's Bowerbirds" (not yet documented here).

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/roaming

Elementary unit: Solitary

Male Regent Bowerbirds are sedentary, females are roaming.

Food, Diet

Male Regent Bowerbird having taking a fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Female Regent Bowerbird taking a fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

Immature male Regent Bowerbird taking a fruit (photo courtesy of E. Scott)
[Roseberry Creek Valley, near Toonumbar NP, northern NSW, January 2017]

Male Regent Bowerbird having a drink of water (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, Gold Coast hinterland, QLD, January 2020]

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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