Birds of Paradise

Of the 43 known species of Birds of Paradise (or 42 if Macgregor's Bird of Paradise is really a honey- eater or whatever), Papua New Guinea is home to at least thirty of these. The Raggiana Bird of Paradise (Paradisea raggiana) is P.N.G.'s national bird, being not only especially spectacular and widespread over the nation, but also so very prominent in the country's culture.

Seldom has a group of birds invoked so much interest and wonder in the birding world as have the Birds of Paradise. From early times (several hundred years), they have been sought by traders for their plumes used in crowns and hats. Stories circulated about their magical powers and celestial nature when early skins showed no feet, supporting the theory they never landed, but drifted forever on the winds (which would make mating and nesting serious problems). In the early nineteen hundreds, up to 100,000 skins a year were estimated to leave New Guinea, and the feathers of some species, such as the Blue Bird of Paradise, brought huge sums of money. Mind you they were not easy to get, as much of New Guinea was as yet unexplored, and some early traders lost their lives to hostile tribes in their quest for fortune.

Now of course Birds of Paradise (BOP) are protected from commercial exploitation, but they may still be hunted for traditional purposes. Most species would appear to still support reasonable population numbers, but there are a few localised species that are under threat from the high population growth now being experienced in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. Some such as the Raggiana Bird of Paradise can still be found within ten kilometres of Lae (P.N.G.'s second largest city), and appear to coexist reasonably well with local villagers. Many villagers are now proud to show you the local lek (or male BOP dancing tree) in their area, and refrain from hunting them, preferring to hand down dancing feathers from generation to generation. Some feathers are traded or bought from more remote areas.

Ironically most of the in demand species drop their spectacular plumage every year, but unless in captivity these can not be collected for use. Most male BOP's do not attain their spectacular adult plumage until they are five or six years old, and although they can successfully mate for a couple of years before this, they most often can not compete successfully for females at the dancing court or lek. Perhaps for this reason, they survived the slaughter of the early nineteen hundreds as only adult males were sought after, adult females and sub adult males escaped to breed on.

The Rainforest Habitat maintains about eighty Birds of Paradise representing about a dozen species. Some of these birds are on display in a 3,000 square metre rainforest enclosure, where for many local and overseas visitors they can be observed closely for the first time. It is amazing how many Papua New Guinean's have never seen one alive so closely before, as normally they are more easily heard and only fleetingly glimpsed in the jungle. Also there is an increasing urban population that does not easily have the opportunity nowadays to see these wonderful birds in their native habitat. We hope that by being able to come closer to these animals (and other species at the Rainforest Habitat) people will gain a better appreciation of how unique and worth conserving the countries fauna is. School children especially are constantly amazed at the variety of wildlife that the Papua New Guinea rainforests support.