A large bird of lowland forests on the northwest islands. Both sexes have yellow bill, chest and back of the head. Male has 2 long black tail streamers, chestnut wings and red plumes which he spreads in his display. Face is bottle green in males and black in females. Doesn’t overlap with any other similar birds-of-paradise. Male gives an often repeated, nasal “caw!”.
An Indonesian endemic, the red bird-of-paradise is distributed to lowland rainforests of Waigeo and Batanta islands of Raja Ampat, West Papua. This species shares its home with another bird-of-paradise, the Wilson's bird-of-paradise. Hybridisation between these two species is not recorded but is expected because it is recorded for many other birds-of-paradise.