They go from expected to extraordinary in the blink of an eye.
You're awestricken. They transform themselves to something that you've never seen before.
They swagger and serenade.
They dance and display.
They're unlike any creatures on earth
and one of the most astounding phenomena ever witnessed.
The Birds of Paradise.
Found here in the nearly impenetrable mountains and valleys of the island of
New Guinea, in the greatest remaining tract of
rainforest in the entire Asia-Pacific region; they exist nowhere else on earth.
The vast, vast majority of the land around here has no road access.
You're just looking up into a wall of steep slope
and you can tell that this is just Ridge after
ridge and valley upper valley...
Evolutionary Biologist, Ed Scholes and
Wildlife Photographer, Tim Laman have spent the better part of a decade
trekking into this isolated wilderness in pursuit of all 39 species of these
miraculous birds.
"The only way to see a King Bird-of-Paradise is to climb up into the trees where they live
so, I'm heading up to my platform."
They've been photographing,
analyzing, and recording their every move, every behavior in an attempt to
comprehend their secrets.
And in doing so, revealing extreme examples of the
miracle of evolution.
"Birds-of-Paradise represent one of these singular events
of evolution that stand out that are extraordinary. They're something that's
without precedent, something that have evolved that's so unique and so exceptional that
you're driven to to say you know, 'Why ?' or you know 'How did that how did that
happen how did that come to be?"
The Birds-of-Paradise are remarkable not only further exceptional beauty and
almost otherworldly appearance, but as veritable living textbooks on
adaptation and sexual selection the females are looking at this whole
package and can discern something about him by minor variation.
The more complex
it is the harder it is to make it look right you know, if one little feature is
out of whack you're gonna be able to tell.
What about New Guinea has led to these birds evolving here and nowhere else?
What function do their outrageous plumes and ornaments play?
And what exactly are they doing?
"For me it always goes back to the original
driving question you know and that's how did it
happen? How did the birds-of-paradise come to be?
Witnessed diverse strategies
of evolution at work and experience one of nature's most extraordinary hidden
wonders up close.
A world where beauty and behavior are intertwined.
A spectacle not possible any other place on earth.