Where does the bird of paradise live? Legendary birds and other animals with mythological names On which mainland does the bird of paradise live.

The wonderful bird of paradise (Lophorina superba) is a representative of the order of passerine birds among the birds of paradise. Just like sparrows, these birds are quite small. The size of their body in length is approximately 23 centimeters, and the weight of the bird itself is only about 80 grams. These birds of paradise live in the mountain forests of Western New Guinea, while the terrain should rise more than 2,000 meters above sea level.

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animals

Class: Birds

Order: Passerines

Type: Chordates

Family: Birds of Paradise

Genus: Wonderful birds of paradise

A wonderful bird of paradise feeds on seeds, insects, small fruits from trees. Sometimes they are able to catch small frogs or lizards. Males are polygamous. They can mate with several females.

Females alone are engaged in making a nest in a tree, incubate eggs and take care of chicks. The wonderful birds of paradise usually have one or two eggs in one clutch. After 18 days, the chicks are already beginning to become covered with feathers.

The plumage of the bird in the female is rather motley (brown-white-gray), but in the male it is velvety black, but turquoise feathers are located on the breast. The female is slightly smaller than the male in size and wing size.

These wonderful birds of paradise became famous for their dance, with which the male attracts the attention of the female. During the dance, the male spreads his wings, turquoise feathers on the chest and turns into a black ball with a contrasting turquoise shield on the chest with bright spots from the eyes. The spectacle is truly worthy. Below is a video where you can see the dance with your own eyes, because words cannot describe it that way.

Video of the mating dance of a wonderful bird of paradise

Birds live either alone, or rarely stay in pairs. And during the mating season, the birds gather and the males begin to start their original mating dance, making calls and attracting the female. After the dance, the female evaluates the male and makes her decision.

Scientists suggest that in fact the female evaluates not so much the male's dance itself, but the condition of the turquoise feathers. It is by the color of the turquoise plumage that the female determines how ready the male is for mating. In older representatives of this species, turquoise feathers become more faded.

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Birds of paradise are not heroes of fairy tales, but the most real animals. These fantastic birds are the closest relatives of our common crows, magpies and sparrows. Their pride and adornment is a bright and unusual plumage that you will not see on other birds.

Various myths and legends circulated around these birds, and the most common of them is that the birds of paradise do not have legs. And the reason for this was several bird skins that were brought by the Spaniards, in particular by one of the captains of the Magellan expedition, from the Moluccas to Europe in 1522. The skins had no legs. After that, rumors began to spread that these birds live all their lives in the air, eating "heavenly dew", and females incubate eggs on the backs of males during flights.

Paradisaea raggiana Wilson's Royal Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica)

In fact, these are ordinary birds, however, damn beautiful, which belong to the order of passeriformes. In total, there are about 45 species of these birds and almost all of them live on the Molluk Islands, New Guinea and nearby islands.

Magnificent royal bird of paradise (Cicinnurus magnificus)

Give general characteristics birds of paradise are a bit difficult, as each species has its own characteristics. Generally speaking, most of them have bright plumage, some are dark, with a metallic tint. Red, blue and yellow colors predominate. On the tail, head or sides are feathers for decoration. Most often, the males have the most beautiful coloration. Only in a few species of birds of paradise, females can also boast such beautiful plumage. The tail can be straight or long stepped.

Lophorina superba
Reggie's Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea reggiana)

But each species of this bird has its own characteristics in appearance. All of them can not be counted, so we will quickly get acquainted with only a few of them. For example, in a six-feathered bird of paradise ( Parotia lawesi) 6 thin and long feathers with tassels at the ends flaunt on the head. During mating dances, the male dissolves them in front of the female in the form of an umbrella.

six-feathered bird of paradise
Blue bird of paradise ( paradisaea rudolphi) boasts an unusual way of demonstrating its beauty during the mating dance, during which the male, hanging upside down on a branch, spreads his blue feathers.

blue bird of paradise

Another bird of paradise - ribbon ( Astrapia mayeri) is the owner of the longest tail among other species. Its length is 3 times the length of the bird itself.

Ribbon bird of paradise

The birds of paradise had to pay a serious price for their fabulous beauty. In the 19th century, for the sake of unusual feathers, their capture began. They went to decorate ladies' hats and other products. During several years of German colonization of the northeast of New Guinea, about 50 thousand skins of these birds were taken from this island. Thank God, hunting for them was prohibited in the 20th century, except when they are caught for keeping in large European zoos.

Paradisaea rubra

Raggiana Bird of Paradise - Paradisaea raggiana
You can meet these birds only in the thickets of alpine forests, where they have plenty of food: fruits, insects, lizards, tree frogs, etc.

Paradisaea rudolph

Usually these birds are kept alone. Couples don't meet very often. Some species are monogamous and mate for life. In this case, the male helps his companion in all "nesting" matters. There are also those that attract the female only for the duration of the current. Then she goes alone to build a nest, incubate eggs and feed chicks. Males do not take any part in this process.

When we talk about a peacock, we immediately imagine a bird with a large beautiful multi-colored tail. As a rule, in our country we meet only a few species of these beautiful creatures, although in fact there are more than 50 of them. They differ in size and habitat. Let's find out together where the peacock lives.

Habitat

The peacock has always attracted attention. Previously, these birds lived only in the Western Pacific on the islands, as well as in a remote part of Australia. But because of this, no one knew about them and only heard from the stories of sailors. For the first time, the pioneers from Holland managed to see the handsome men. They immediately gave the name to them - birds of paradise. This is the name they still retained in English.

Then, thanks to the trade and sea routes, they learned about this beautiful bird in Europe, and there, as they say, it came to America. Today, peacocks live in many countries and on almost all continents. There are many types of them, from blue and white, to the rarest of the size of a tit.

Forests of India

Most often, we meet the usual indian look with blue plumage and green tail. Initially, these birds lived only in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. This species of paradise birds for life chooses places near rural crops, river banks, forest clearings. Prefers green pastures and crops of cereals to search for food. Not shy, but careful.

The remaining species of peacocks known to us prefer denser thickets, for example, they live in the jungle or forests with dense bushes.

Africa, Thailand and beyond

For example, there is such a species as Javanese. This is a kind of the same Indian, but with a more greenish color of the main plumage. These birds live in countries from Thailand to the island of Java. There is also Congolese, which is found in Africa. Some subtypes of birds of paradise live even near the Himalayas.

Video "White peacock in the park of Prague, Czech Republic"

In this video you will see a white peacock that lives in the Senate Park in Prague.

We meet the mention of birds of paradise in fairy tales, legends and myths. But do they really exist? As it turns out, this is not fiction. Birds of paradise are as real as all other birds. They inhabit the Australian continent and New Guinea. They, of course, can be classified as exotic, but in fact, our crows, which have changed dramatically in the process of evolution, may well be their progenitors.

The first mention of birds of paradise dates back to 1522. Their effigies were brought to Europe by sailors participating in the expedition of Magellan. As a matter of fact, these were not even stuffed animals, but skins exotic birds devoid of bones and legs. The absence of legs did not bother the ancient zoologists. They considered that the birds of paradise live in the sky, feed on heavenly dew, and they do not need legs. Even stranger is the hypothesis of their reproduction. Its essence was that birds incubate their eggs while in the air. The female lays them on the back of the male, where she warms them with her body. It is clear that this is utter nonsense.

Scientists reached the truth only in 1824, after they discovered a bird of paradise in New Guinea. She sat on a tree and looked just like her closest European relatives.

From that moment, the real hunting for exotic birds began. Their feathers were very popular with the ladies. In particular, they made jewelry for ladies' hats. All this led to a sharp reduction in their population. At present, hunting for birds of paradise is prohibited, and they are under the protection of the state.

Today, bird-of-paradise feather decorations can be seen only during national holidays. As a rule, they decorate the costumes of dancers. In free trade they are also available. However, only wealthy people can buy them, as they cost fabulous money, up to a million dollars.

What do birds of paradise look like?

They may differ in color, size, shape of the tail. It all depends on the type of bird and its habitat. There are monophonic individuals, as well as multi-colored ones, in which the plumage can be red, yellow, blue. Males are much brighter than females. During the mating season, their color becomes incredibly attractive, rich and colorful. It's easy to explain. After all, the more beautiful the male, the more chances he has to attract the attention of the female.

Birds of paradise are endemic to New Guinea and nearby islands. The halo of their habitat includes areas of tropical forest. They feed on insects, small amphibians and reptiles, do not refuse fruits, seeds and berries.

Preference is given to a solitary lifestyle. Together, the male and female can only be found during the mating season. The creation of a married couple is preceded by the patient courtship of the male and his mating dances. About one female can gather up to 30 males. Each of them tries to please her. To this end, the male takes the original posture. He spreads his plumage and shyly hides his head under his wing.

Of particular note is the mating dance of the male, which he performs right on a tree, or on a forest edge. This is a whole set of original movements and poses, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the beauty of plumage. Before starting to dance, the male carefully prepares the dance floor. He removes it from leaves and branches, and tramples it down well. On the branches adjacent to the “stage”, the male cuts off the leaves, preparing places for female spectators. Having achieved the location of the female, the male mates with her. This concludes his marital obligations. The female builds the nest, incubates the eggs and raises the offspring. The male does not take part in this.

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Who are the birds of paradise and where do they live.

Based on the name of these birds, some people may think that the birds of paradise are mythical creatures that live in paradise. However, this is not at all the case, and these birds are not fictional, fabulous creatures, but quite real, earthly ones. And they most likely received such a name for their unusual appearance.

The beak of the birds of paradise is long and powerful. And the shape of the tail can be different, depending on the species: it can be either long and stepped, or short, straight. Many species of these birds have very bright and rich shades of color: feathers can be red and gold, as well as blue or blue.

But there are also dark varieties with shiny, as if metallic, shades. At the same time, males are usually more elegant than females and use their jewelry in original and interesting fighting games.

In Latin, these birds are called Paradisaeidae, which is translated as “birds of paradise”. They belong to the order of sparrows and are the closest relatives of the familiar crows and magpies to all of us. In total, 45 species of birds of paradise live on our planet, 38 of which are found in New Guinea or on the islands located near this country.

And also these birds are found in the east and in the northern part of Australia. But to see them, it is not at all necessary to go there, because these wonderful birds also live in some zoos.

In Europe, birds of paradise first appeared in the 16th (16th) century, in the form of ... skins. They were brought by the ship of the Spanish-Portuguese navigator-traveler Ferdinand Magellan. Then the colorful plumage of the birds of paradise delighted everyone who had the opportunity to see it. So much so that for several centuries there were legends about these birds, telling about their wonderful, healing properties.

There were even absurd rumors that these special birds have no legs, but they feed on "heavenly dew" and live right in the air. All these fictional tales caused people to crave to get their hands on these extraordinary creatures.

Why did people think that the birds of paradise had no legs? Where did this rumor come from?

The answer to these questions is very simple. The fact is that the natives, killing the birds of paradise, cut off their legs, and then sold the skins with plumage to tourists who took them around different countries. It is because of such legless skins that have spread throughout the world that this legend of legless birds arose.

The stunning beauty of plumage played a cruel joke with these birds. To decorate ladies' hats with feathers, as well as other items of clothing, they were killed by the thousands. Nowadays, such jewelry is estimated at millions of dollars.

As a result, nothing was heard about the birds of paradise for several centuries. And stupid rumors were dispelled only in the 19th (19th) century. And this was done by the Frenchman Rene Lesson, who made a trip to the shores of New Guinea as a ship's doctor. There he had the opportunity to see the birds of paradise with his own eyes and make sure that they not only have legs, but also cheerfully jump from branch to branch with their help, because they live on trees.

But, for all their unearthly beauty, these birds have one drawback - the same as that of another beautiful representative of birds - a peacock. Namely, they have a very nasty voice, similar to a crow's cawing. However, this should not be surprising at all, because, as we have already said above, the birds of paradise are just the same close relatives of the most common crow.