NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Fire-maned Bowerbird
Sericulus bakeri (Chapin, 1929)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The fire-maned bowerbird (Sericulus bakeri) is a medium-sized, approximately 27 cm (11 in) long, bowerbird that inhabits and endemic to the forests of the Adelbert Range in Papua New Guinea. The striking male is black with fiery orange crown and upperback, elongated neck plumes, yellow iris and golden yellow wing patch. The female is a brown bird with brown-barred whitish underparts.
Its diet consists mainly of figs, ants and insects. The bower itself is that of "avenue"-type with two sides of wall of sticks.
The fire-maned bowerbird was discovered in 1928 by Rollo Beck. The female was unknown to science until 1959.
Due to ongoing habitat loss and limited range, the fire-maned bowerbird is evaluated as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Wikipedia contributors, Fire-maned bowerbird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:43:36.969050+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sericulus bakeri (Chapin, 1929)
- Name authority
- (Chapin, 1929)
- Common name
- Fire-maned Bowerbird
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ptilonorhynchidae
- Genus
- Sericulus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPtilonorhynchidae
- genusSericulus Swainson, 1825
- speciesSericulus bakeri (Chapin, 1929)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sericulus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Flame BowerbirdSericulus ardens (D'Albertis & Salvadori, 1879) | PtilonorhynchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Masked BowerbirdSericulus aureus (Linnaeus, 1758) | PtilonorhynchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Xanthomelus bakeri Chapin, 1929 Chapin, 1929 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=562930 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4WV2T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.