biology

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise, also known as Wilhelmina's riflebird, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that Erwin Stresemann proposed is an intergeneric hybrid between a greater lophorina and magnificent bird-of-paradise, an identity since confirmed by DNA analysis. History Three adult male specimens are known of this hybrid, held in the American Museum of Natural History, Royal Natural History Museum of the Net…

Key takeaways

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise, also known as Wilhelmina's riflebird, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that Erwin Stresemann proposed is an intergeneric hybrid between a greater lophorina and magnificent bird-of-paradise, an identity since confirmed by DNA analysis.

History Three adult male specimens are known of this hybrid, held in the American Museum of Natural History, Royal Natural History Museum of the Netherlands, and the State Museum of Zoology, Dresden. Two of the specimens come from the Arfak Mountains of north-western New Guinea, while the other is of unknown provenance. The bird was named as a species by Adolf Bernhard Meyer in 1894 after Wilhelmine, his wife who joined him during his travels in 1870–1872.

Notes

References Frith, Clifford B. & Beehler, Bruce M. (1998). The Birds of Paradise. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854853-9. Thörn, Filip; Soares, André E. R.; Müller, Ingo A.; Päckert, Martin; Frahnert, Sylke; van Grouw, Hein; Kamminga, Pepijn; Peona, Valentina; Suh, Alexander; Blom, Mozes P. K.; Irestedt, Martin (2024-06-08). "Contemporary intergeneric hybridization and backcrossing among birds-of-paradise". Evolution Letters: 1–15. doi:10.1093/evlett/qrae023. PMC 11424083. Meyer, A. B. (1894). Neue Vögel aus den Ostindischen Archipel. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Etnographischen Museums zu Dresden. 2.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise

In research: Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds of the Doberai Peninsula, Hybrid birds of paradise, Intergeneric hybrids, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise in simple terms?

Why does Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wilhelmina's bird-of-paradise.