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Victoria's Riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) Alternate name(s): "Lesser Rifle-bird", "Queen Victoria Riflebird" Aboriginal name(s): "duwuduwu" Size: 23-25 cm; wing span: 30-35 cm Body mass: 90-120 g (male), 75-95 g (female) Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.47 (both sexes)

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

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Victoria's Riflebirds are small birds of paradise. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Victoria's Riflebirds have glossy, "velvet"-black plumage, except for the belly, which is glossy-olive. Only the crown, the "gorget" and the central tail feathers have purple to turquoise iridescensce. Female Victoria's Riflebirds are much plainer, with an off-white throat patch with a black stripe on either side of it and an otherwise cinnamon-buff front with sparse, relatively inconspicuous brown chevrons. The head, except for white eyebrows, the nape of the neck, the rest of the back are all dark-olive; the tail is brownish-olive. The flight feathers are brownish. The eyes of both sexes have brown irises. The long, narrow, slightly downward-curved bill (females have a longer bill than males) is grey. The legs and feet are also grey. Juvenile males resemble females until they moult into their adult plumage. Twitcher's tip Compared with Paradise Riflebirds, male Victoria's Riflebirds have less prominent scales on their chests; females have less colour contrast on their front.

Taxonomy, classification See Victoria's Riflebird 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 Victoria's Riflebird is available HERE . Victoria's Riflebirds are endemic to Australia. They are found only in the Atherton (and adjacent) Tablelands, from just to the South of Cooktown to Townsville, QLD. Victoria's Riflebirds have a preference for rainforest and adjacent woodlands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting a Victoria's Riflebird at Julatten, QLD, in July 2013. M. Eaton found a Victoria's Riflebird at Kuranda, near Cairns, QLD, in July 2018. Another was found in the Atherton Tablelands in June 2024. Next, the species was spotted near Lake Eacham, QLD, in October 2024. A. Ross-Taylor reports finding Victoria's Riflebirds on the Atherton Tablelands, QLD, in May 2022. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours spotted a pair of Victoria's Riflebirds near Lake Eacham, QLD, in August 2020 and again in August 2023. Another was found at Malanda, QLD, in October 2023.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Close-up frontal view of a male Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Close-up near-frontal portrait of a male Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Victoria's Riflebird looking towards the observer
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Victoria's Riflebird looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Lateral view onto the upperparts of a male Victoria's Riflebird clinging to the trunk of a Paw-paw plant
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2023]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird searching for prey (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird looking sideways
(photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Close-up near-frontal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Near-frontal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Near-frontal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Lake Eacham, QLD, October 2024]

Near-lateral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Atherton Tablelands, QLD, May 2022]

Near-lateral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird searching for insects (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

Lateral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird using its powerful bill to debark a dead branch in search of insects
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Lateral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird searching for prey (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, QLD, August 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a female Victoria's Riflebird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile male Victoria's Riflebird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Lake Eacham, QLD, October 2024]

Lateral view of a juvenile male Victoria's Riflebird practicing the fanning motion of its wings typical of birds of paradise (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Lake Eacham, QLD, October 2024]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary

Food, Diet

Upside down female Victoria's Riflebird working on the end of a broken trunk in search of food (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

Not a nice view of Victoria's Riflebird, but here one can see what the effort was about - a grub (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Lewis NP, QLD, August 2023]

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.

vicrifl_me_20241018.m4a	(N QLD)	Contact call (male)	© ME
vicrifl_me_20200927.m4a	(N QLD)	Contact call (male)	© ME

More Victoria's Riflebird 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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