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Science 23 April 1982:
Vol. 216. no. 4544, pp. 431 - 434
DOI: 10.1126/science.216.4544.431
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Articles

Rediscovery of the Yellow-Fronted Gardener Bowerbird

JARED M. DIAMOND 1

1 Department of Physiology, University of California Medical School, Los Angeles 90024

The long-lost bowerbird Amblyornis flavifrons was found in the Foja Mountains of west New Guinea, and its bower and display were discovered. The bower is a stick tower on a rimmed moss platform, adorned with separate piles of fruit of three different colors. The displaying male extends toward the female a blue fruit set against his golden crest. These observations support a derivation of bower ornamentation from ritual courtship feeding and a transfer of ornamentation from the male's plumage to the bower.

Submitted on August 12, 1981
Revised on October 20, 1981

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)