Photographs of 3 of the 40 species of birds-of-paradise are testimony to the diversity and beauty of the birds-of-paradise, including the King Bird-of-Paradise (photos by Tim Laman). This photo showing the apex of the remarkable display of a Blue Bird-of-Paradise should be an incentive to look into the wealth of photos, videos, and information provided by the Birds-of-Paradise Project. Among the more well-known group of birds-of-paradise, the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise uses flowing feather plumes during treetop displays.

Every birder must be excited when they hear the words “Birds-of-Paradise,” and even though most birds-of-paradise are native to the distant island of New Guinea, now you can learn about each of the 40 species of birds-of-paradise from the exceptional Birds-of-Paradise Project. You can view remarkable videos and photos of each species including their mating displays, vocalizations, fantastic plumage and colors, along with short but interesting descriptions of each species.

The Birds-of-Paradise Project is the result of the extraordinary work of Tim Laman and Ed Scholes, who spent 544 days in the field between 2004 and 2012, visiting 51 locations to document all the birds-of-paradise known at that time. During their work, Tim Laman took more than 39,000 photographs and together the team recorded countless hours of video to document the extraordinary beauty and otherworldly behavior of these amazing birds. You can even learn about extraordinary efforts to find each species, then photograph and take videos of the birds in their natural habitats.

To investigate the diversity of birds-of-paradise, species by species, refer to The Species – Birds-of-Paradise Project (birdsofparadiseproject.org)

And to learn more about the Birds-of-Paradise Project, the people involved, and the varied landscapes these remarkable species of birds inhabit in New Guinea and northeast Australia, see Birds-of-Paradise Project (birdsofparadiseproject.org)