27 April 2006
In awe of the Paradisea Raggiana
A Bird of Paradise
© Greenpeace/Mizukoshi
After a visit to the Kiunga Aiambak road we walked back towards our base-camp on a Catfish clans hunting track. Matt and I were following Sep and his hunting dogs. It’s quite exhausting to walk in the heat and humidity. You have to watch your step all the time to avoid falling over the tree branches. It’s not possible for us city boys and girls to admire the surrounding forest while walking. For that we have to stop.
Luckily we were with Sep, who heard the singing of a Bird of Paradise by the track. He stopped and pointed up to the canopy. First I did not see anything, only heard the birdsong. Finally, I could see something flying between the trees. We sneaked off the track and into the forest. Quietly we moved deeper in and found a good location to spot the birds.
I didn’t even take photos with my pocket camera, deciding to enjoy what I was seeing and try to memorise it for future. There were about a dozen of the birds, both male and female. The male birds have beautiful feathers to impress the female birds. The male has yellow colour in his head and reddish orange feathers with some white colours in the tail. I can’t really describe them any better with my poor English, but I am sure you can look at the pictures on our sites. This what the bird we saw is called – so Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Paradisea raggiana.
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