CreatureData

Masked bowerbird

Sericulus aureus (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus) is a species in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 172 g to 172.2 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus)
Photo: John Gould · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the masked bowerbird

Weight
172 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the masked bowerbird live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The masked bowerbird is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the masked bowerbird?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus) is endemic to rainforests of New Guinea. It is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks. The female is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden below.

From the Wikipedia article “Masked bowerbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Masked_bowerbird&oldid=1343258569), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the masked bowerbird endangered?

The masked bowerbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the masked bowerbird classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPtilonorhynchidae
  6. genusSericulus
  7. SpeciesSericulus aureus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Coracias aurea, Sericulus aureus aureus

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • Flame bowerbirdEnglish
  • arquer auriCatalan
  • lemčík ohnivýCzech
  • aderyn deildy eurfflamWelsh
  • Sortmasket LøvhyttefuglDanish
  • PapuagoldvogelGerman
  • GoldlaubenvogelGerman
  • nigramaska ptilonorinkoEsperanto
  • Pergolero áureoSpanish
  • tuli-lehtlalindEstonian
  • tulihuntulavastajaFinnish
  • naamiohuntulavastajaFinnish
  • Jardinier du Prince d'OrangeFrench
  • Jardinier du Prince d’OrangeFrench
  • crnolica vrtlaricaCroatian
  • bóbitás aranymadárHungarian
  • Namdur apiIndonesian
  • Uccello giardiniere flammeoItalian
  • オウゴンフウチョウモドキJapanese
  • juodagurklis auksinis palapinukasLithuanian
  • flammegartnerNorwegian Bokmål
  • ZwartmaskerprieelvogelDutch
  • gullgartnerNorwegian
  • altannik złotokryzyPolish
  • perguleiro-áureoPortuguese
  • jardineiro-mascaradoPortuguese
  • Чернолицый шалашникRussian
  • Чернолицый золотой шалашникRussian
  • šiatorník čiernolíciSlovak
  • Maskirana baštovankaSerbian
  • svartstrupig lövsalsfågelSwedish
  • Maskeli ÇardakkuşuTurkish
  • альтанник золотокрилийUkrainian
  • 辉亭鸟Chinese
  • 新幾內亞別墅鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the masked bowerbird

Other species in the same genus Sericulus.

LC, Least Concern

Flame bowerbird

Sericulus ardens

PtilonorhynchidaeNo free photo yet

CompareMasked bowerbird vs Regent bowerbirdMasked bowerbird vs Fire-maned bowerbirdMasked bowerbird vs Flame bowerbird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the masked bowerbird?

An adult masked bowerbird weighs 172 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the masked bowerbird live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the masked bowerbird for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the masked bowerbird endangered?

The masked bowerbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the masked bowerbird?

The masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus) belongs to the family Ptilonorhynchidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/masked-bowerbird

MLA

“Masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/masked-bowerbird.

BibTeX
@misc{masked_bowerbird_2026,
  title = {Masked bowerbird (Sericulus aureus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/masked-bowerbird},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}