⭕️Southern Cassowary

Southern Cassowary (南方鶴鴕)
Papua New Guinea (2011)

25th August, 2011. Port Moresby

Presently, most authorities consider the southern cassowary monotypic, but several subspecies have been described. It has proven very difficult to confirm the validity of these due to individual variations, age-related variations, the relatively few available specimens (and the bright skin of the head and neck – the basis of which several subspecies have been described – fades in specimens), and that locals are known to have traded live cassowaries for hundreds, if not thousands of years, some of which are likely to have escaped/been deliberately introduced to regions away from their origin.

Cassowaries are closely related to the kiwis, both families diverging from a common ancestor approximately 40 million years ago.

The binomial name Casuarius casuarius is derived from its Malay name kesuari. The southern cassowary was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, as Struthio casuarius, from a specimen from Seram, in 1758. It is now the type species of the genus Casuarius.

The southern cassowary has been described under a large number of scientific names, all of which are now considered taxonomic synonyms for the species.

⭕️Goldie's Bird-of-paradise

Goldie's Bird-of-paradise (戈氏天堂鳥)
Papua New Guinea (2005)
20th March, 2012. Port Moresby

From some documentary films, sometimes can seen a colourful birds with long tail and having special lek-type, they so called Bird-of-paradise. The bird-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae majorly to be found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and easternmost of Australia. The national bird of Papua New Guinea is Raggiana Bird-of-paradise (新畿內亞極樂鳥).

Above aerogramme illustrated Goldie's Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. But now it listed as Near Threatened species on IUCN list, as due to habitat loss, limited range and overhunting.