The popular Birds-of-Paradise plant bears a unique flower that resembles a brightly colored bird in flight, giving it the common name, Bird of Paradise. The unusually beautiful shape and brilliant colors of Birds of Paradise have made these flowers not just a designer's favorite, but also a popular symbol of paradise. The flowers of the Birds of Paradise resemble a brightly colored bird in flight and so the name Birds of Paradise. Birds of Paradise bloom from September through May. Birds of Paradise are native to South Africa. The name Bird of Paradise comes from its spectacular flower shape which resembles a bird's beak and head plumage.īirds of Paradise, also known as Crane flowers is one of the most beautiful Exotic Flowers. a world where beauty and behavior are intertwined, a spectacle not possible any other place on Earth.The Birds of Paradise is one of the most colorful flowers in the world. SPEAKER 1: Witness diverse strategies of evolution at work and experience one of nature's most extraordinary hidden wonders up close. And that's how did it happen- how did the birds of paradise come to be? SPEAKER 1: 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?ĮD SCHOLES: For me, it still always goes back to the original driving question. If one little feature is out-of-whack, you're going to be able to tell. The more complex it is, the harder it is to make it look right.
SPEAKER 1: The birds of paradise are remarkable not only for their exceptional beauty and almost otherworldly appearance, but as veritable living textbooks on adaptation and sexual selection.ĮD SCHOLES: The females are looking at this whole package and can discern something about him by minor variations. They're something that is without precedent, something that evolved that's so unique and so exceptional that you're driven to say why, or how did that happen, how did that come to be? SPEAKER 1: 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.ĮD SCHOLES: Birds of paradise represent one of these singular events of evolution that stand out that are extraordinary.
TIM LAMAN: Well, The only way to see a king bird of paradise is to climb up into the trees where they love.
SPEAKER 1: 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.ĮD SCHOLES: Oh, I can see him. And you can tell that this is just ridge after ridge and valley after valley. They're just looking up into a wall of steep slope. They're unlike any creatures on earth, and one of the most astounding phenomena ever witnessed- the birds of paradise.įound 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.ĮD SCHOLES: The vast, vast majority of the land around here has no road access. They transform themselves to something that you've never seen before.
SPEAKER 1: They go from expected to extraordinary in the blink of an eye.ĮD SCHOLES: You're awestricken.