This is a very strange bird - in several respects! It got its name from a supernatural being in Arabic fairy tales - ifrit. It is alone in its own family: 'Ifritidae'! It occurs only in New Guinea in the whole world! It is also one of the very few bird species that are poisonous! The poison, batrachotoxin, comes from some beetles that are part of its diet. If you touch the bird, you may experience tingling and numbness in the skin. The Blue-capped ifrit is about 16 cm long, has tawny plumage and a characteristic blue and black cap. This is probably a female as it lacks the white cheek stripe that characterizes the male. It occurs in mossy mountain forests between 2000 and 2900 meters. It forages, as in the picture, for insects on trunks and branches much like a nuthatch. It lays only a single egg in a thick-walled nesting bowl, placed three to six meters above the ground.