The Vogelkop lophorina was given the binomial name Paradisea superba in 1781 in a book which has the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster on the title page.

The binomial name is accompanied by a cite to a hand coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet that had been included in Edme-Louis Daubenton's Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle.

[4][5] The specimen depicted in the plate had been acquired in 1772 by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat when it had been gifted to him on the small island of Gebe.

They also proposed a neotype from the Kobowre Mountains in New Guinea for the no longer extant type specimen for Paradisea superba.

The original type specimen for superba had been assumed to come from the Bird's Head Peninsula (known as Vogelkop in Dutch and Indonesian).

[17] The Vogelkop lophorina travels across the trees in the forest to catch its prey, which can vary depending on seasonal availability of food.

[16] The Vogelkop lophorina has not only been known to eat fruits and insects, but also has been spotted preying on larger animals such as frogs, reptiles, and other small birds.

[17] The Vogelkop lophorina forms its nest on top of trees using soft material that they find around the forest such as leaves.

[20] After carefully and meticulously preparing a "dance floor" (even scrubbing the dirt or branch smooth with leaves), the male first attracts a female with a loud call.