The Lesser Bird of Paradise, Paradisaea minor is a medium-sized, up to 32cm-long, maroon-brown bird of paradise with a yellow crown and brownish-yellow upper back. The male has a dark emerald-green throat, a pair of long tail-wires and is adorned with ornamental flank plumes which are deep yellow at their base and fade outwards into white. The female is a maroon bird with a dark-brown head and whitish underparts.

It resembles the larger Greater Bird of Paradise, but the male of that species has a dark chest, whereas the female is entirely brown (no whitish underparts). The males are polygamous, and perform courtship displays in leks. The female usually lays two pinkish eggs with dark markings in a nest in a tree high above ground. Its diet consists mainly of fruits and insects.

Female at Bronx Zoo

The Lesser Bird of Paradise is distributed throughout forests of northern New Guinea, and the nearby islands of Misool and Yapen.

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Lesser Bird of Paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.