Other Scientific Names
Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis [Christidis and Boles (2008)]
Other Names (World)
Great Bowerbird, Bowerbird, Great Grey Bowerbird, Great Gray Bowerbird, Lilac-naped Bowerbird, Western Great Bowerbird, Eastern Bowerbird, Queensland Bowerbird, Great Spotted Bowerbird, Bone Bird
Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) [XC670815]
by James Lambert from Rum Jungle, Coomalie Shire, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) [XC158481]
by Marc Anderson from Alva, Queensland, Australia (song)
Nest
Saucer-shaped, shallow, composed of thin dead twigs, lined with finer twigs and sometimes dry grass, placed in a thick bunch of twigs in a tree, up to about 8 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
1, sometimes 2; lustrous, grey-green to cream covered with umber, purple-grey and black lines, squiggles and spots; oval; about 42 x 29 mm. Incubation: about 21 days; by female. One brood per season.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 20 days.
Subspecies
Hybridization with Spotted Bowerbird (Chlamydera maculata) recorded south-east of Charters Towers (eastern Queensland).
Proposed subspecies oweni (described from Point Torment, in northern Western Australia) and yorki (from Utingu, in extreme northern Queensland) synonymized with, respectively, nominate and orientalis.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
nuchalis (Jardine & Selby, 1830) - Northern Australia from Dampier Land, Kimberley Divide, north-western WA, east to Arnhem Land, NT, including Tiwi Island and Groote Eylandt and central-southern head of Gulf of Carpentaria, Qld, extending inland to the headwaters of the northern coastal drainages.
orientalis Gould, 1879 - Cape York Peninsula and north-eastern Qld except ultra-humid eastern sectors south to Burdekin River Drainage Basin and along the coast to the region of Mackay.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet