Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise: What Are the Wires For? | Cornell / National Geographic

This video captures the progression of courtship. It begins with a male doing a practice display on his own. When a female appears, he puts his technique into action, climbing his display pole and brushing her with his wiry display feathers. The female continues to show interest but eventually leaves—an example of the extreme degree of selectivity females use in choosing their mates.

There are currently seventy-two short films in the entire Birds-of-Paradise Project playlist, ranging from 26 seconds to 8:29. In the upcoming weeks, we will present some of our favorites.

A film from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you.  [Chuck Almdale]