Plumage

                                                                 Birds of Paradise
 

 

 

Dear Reader,

Birds of Paradise are found in New Guinea and surrounding islands.   They are so attractive that their appearance once made them the target of skin hunters who decimated some species.  They are the most intelligent species in the animal kingdom and use tools to get food and branches to build their nests.

Another characteristic shared by all Birds of Paradise is their diet.  These birds mainly eat fruit and insects such as grasshoppers and cicadas.  A common misconception about male Birds of Paradise is that they come out of the egg ready to dance.  But in fact it takes many years to learn and refine the dance steps that makes them attractive to females.  It can take four or five years before young males get their incredibly ornamented feathers.

When I first watched a documentary about these beautiful birds I couldn't help feeling that they behave in exactly the same way as human males or females.  Wanting to be attractive to the opposite sex, or the same sex, means dressing up in your best clothes, applying a little after shave or perfume, slicking down your hair or arranging it in a sexy way, then off to a dance hall or club to show off your wares.  Sometimes you are lucky, as with the birds.

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From Gilbert White  1782 November 27th in Hampshire

'Fierce frost.  Rime hangs all day on the hanger.  the hares, pressed by hunger, haunt the gardens and devour the pinks, cabbages, parsley, etc. Cats catch the red-breasts.  Timothy the tortoise sleeps in the fruit-border under the wall, covered with a hen-coop, in which is a good armfull of straw.  Here he will like warm, secure, and dry.  His back is partly covered with mould.'

From John Everett Millais  1851 November 29th in Surrey

'All painted after breakfast- Holman Hunt at grass; myself, having nearly finished the wall, went on to complete stalk and lower leaves of Canterbury-bell in the corner.  Young, who was with Hunt, said he heard the stag-hounds out; went to discover and came running in in a state of frenzied excitement for us to see the hunt.   Saw about fifty riders after the hounds, but missed seeing the stag, it having got some distance ahead.   Moralised afterwards thinking it a savage and uncivilised sport.

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 Plumage

 

Deep in the humid forest

Scenting strongly of rich earth,

The bird of Paradise trips

Backwards and forwards on a tree branch,

Utters loud cries, jumps small jumps,

Dances the pas de deux,

Fans out his tail feathers,

Pink, aquamarine, blue and red

Yellow and green,

To entice female birds

To fall in love with him.

 

And sometimes they do.

 

The human male

Getting ready for a date

might slick back his hair,

smile at himself in the mirror,

put on a bright coloured shirt

red silk tie, and yellow waistcoat,

pat on some after shave

hum a tune, dancer a step or two,

and sally forth,

hoping some female will

fall in love with him.

 

And sometimes they do.

 

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With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

 

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