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Attenborough's Paradise BirdsMeet the Birds of Paradise

The most spectacular birds on the planet.

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A King Bird of Paradise performs an open winged display. © Tim Laman/naturepl.com.

This is just one of the 39 species of Birds of Paradise.

  • A King Bird of Paradise performs an open winged display. © Tim Laman/naturepl.com.
  • Sir David Attenborough meets his life-long passion, a Bird of Paradise
  • The Blue Bird of Paradise was originally named after the Crown Prince of Austria, Prince Rudolf. © Tim Laman/naturepl.com.
  • In the plumed birds such as the Greater Bird of Paradise, males display in the forest canopy, in groups known as leks.
  • The male Twelve-Wired Bird of Paradise uses his “wires” to brush the face of the female during the courtship ritual.
  • Five drab females judge the display of a male Queen Carola’s Parotia from their specially chosen “viewing gallery”.
  • A captive Greater Bird of Paradise bows during his courtship display. Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar.
  • The individual plumes of the Greater Bird of Paradise.
  • The plumes of male Birds of Paradise have evolved simply to look beautiful and so attract females.
  • David Attenborough with a variety of skins and specimens of Birds of Paradise.
  • 56 years after his first encounter with a Bird of Paradise in the wild, David Attenborough gets a close up view of one.

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