The blue bird-of-paradise (Paradisornis rudolphi) is a beautiful, relatively large species of bird-of-paradise. It is the only species in the genus Paradisornis, but was previously included in the genus Paradisaea. It is often regarded as one of the most fabulous and extravagant of all birds of the world, with its glorified and fancy flank feathers present only in males and also their two long wires also only found in the males. Taxonomy The blue bird-of-paradise was formally described in 1886 by the German naturalists Otto Finsch and Adolf Bernhard Meyer. They placed the bird in a new genus Paradisornis and coined the binomial name Paradisornis rudolphi. The genus name Paradisornis combines the Ancient Greek paradeisos meaning "paradise" with ornis meaning "bird". The specific epithet rudolphi was chosen to honour Archduke Rudolf Franz Karl Joseph, the Crown-Prince of Austria. This species was formerly placed in the genus Paradisaea. Two subspecies are recognised: P. r. margaritae (Mayr & Gilliard, 1951) – east central New Guinea P. r. rudolphi Finsch & Meyer, AB, 1886 – southeast New Guinea The blue bird-of-paradise is known to have hybridized with Lawes's parotia (Parotia lawesii), which is called "Schodde's bird-of-paradise", and also with the Raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana).Description Arguably one of the most fabulous of its family, the blue bird-of-paradise is among the larger birds-of-paradise, being around 30 cm, or a little over a foot in length (excluding the long tail wires), rivaling some of the Paradisaea and Manucodia species. Unlike the Paradisaea birds, the male is mostly glossy black overall with silver-white crescents surrounding the eyes (in both sexes). They have a very crow-like bill that is whiteish to light greyish in colour. The back of the head has a reddish gloss that stretches down to the mantle, or back. A defining feature found in both sexes are the shiny, blue wings that are more commonly light blue but can range from light blue, aqua or even a skyish-baby blue; the tail is also like this. Stretching from the tail are two blackish and elongated wires with small, whitish spatulate tips similar Paradisaea'' males' wires. The most brilliant and distinctive feature present on the male are the fine, silky elongated flank plumes that are mainly a dull amber colour on the surface; below, they are a light blue, based by two dark crimson lines on each side of the lower belly. These elegant features help the