Cendrawasih: Birds of Paradise

Most of you may not know of the Bird of Paradise, but it is definitely not a phrase. This bird is the rainbow of the equatorial rainforests, a true dream to be in the presence of one of them! While I am currently on summer vacation, I’d like you guys to have an amazing experience as I am now, and to be just as awed by this majestic bird I discovered…

A long time ago, a group of strangers entered the peaceful lives of a Papuan tribe. The tribe had never seen any men like them, for their skin are white. “Who are you?”, they asked, yet the strangers spoke in a language they could not understand. What strange men, they thought. The day they began to understand each other was the day the white men learnt a story (better said, a legend). The tribe told them of birds said to be the birds of the gods. They believe in such things because only the royalty will wear such intricate feathers and they will never touch the earth unless they die, thus falling to the ground from the heavens. They strictly feed only the rain’s dew on leaves. This is why they are said to have ‘no legs’ and the travelling white men named them ‘Bird of Paradise’, as they refer to the bird of the heavens. The Papuan’s tribal ancestors have been capturing these godly birds ever since Christ was born (which the whites took divinely!), and this tradition continues until today.

According to me, the Birds of Paradise resemble the colours of life, you know, reminding us of how the universe is filled with wondrous things. For me, they help forget the bad stuff that exists in our world… corruption, terrorism, death, all these I ignore when I see the bird’s utopian colours! I know this sounds quite sappy, but it’s true. Often visits to the zoo and a catalog of various birds always soothed my senses! What is this bird to you?

The one by your left is my favourite, I think it looks like an orchid… The Bird of Paradise is truly a majestic bird found throughout Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and around Eastern Australia. It has more varieties of colours than just red and yellow, especially regarding the male ones. They also come in various sizes, some to the size of little canaries and some are as a metre!

 

The right hand-side Bird of Paradise is also known as a Ranggiana, about the size of a crow with the addition of their longer tail. We can see the difference in these two birds are not by their plumage, but by their size. The left might just be to the size of a flower compared to the larger size of the Ranggiana (not counting the length of its tail). They could weigh within the range of 50 to 400 grams.

The natives of Indonesia call them Cendrawasih, belonging to the Paradisaeidae family and has a total of 14 generas 43 species. It is known to be Papua’s national bird, it’s rarity priced their worth amongst the society; modeled in every stamp and cab, yet not many will tend to survive/be sighted nearby today’s destructive society.

The Cendrawasih are by fact, omnivours. Although they will prefer juicy fruits instead (and dew now and then!). Their colouration have a range of all colours of the rainbow, along with the addition of black, brown and white feathers. Mixing these colours throughout centuries of generations (along with hybrids) produced an array of heavenly beings!

Speaking of mating… Have you seen the videos? I think they’re magnificent! Scientists and passionate photographers have been known to endure an 8-year mission to video all the species of the Bird of Paradise! This just shows how rare they are, especially for 43 different species. I’ve watched this second video ever since I was young, and I was enthralled by its beauty, despite of my young understanding.

OK, so here comes the cool part: mating. You’ve already known how beautiful these birds are, each having their own unique plumage of various colours. This mainly serves for their purpose of courtship, but there is also their performance that matters. In these rituals, colourful males present their striking colours in as many ways possible, swaying from branch to branch, singing his female a serenade, even creating bonuses by building their own stage! Females are picky in all circumstances, refusing to choose a mate she supposes does not deserve her (although her colours are nothing but a shade of brown). Stubborn as they are, some males will never mate despite their persevered, yet futile rituals. This is when Darwin steps in and announces: “Survival of the ‘colourful'”.

Now how do they learn the dance? This is not interpretive, or according to the bird’s instinct, but they actually go on classes to learn them! Like humans, the Cendrawasih may take years to learn a dance so they can pick up on chics. Their young colours (at the meantime) may help them camouflage to disguise them as an admiring (or judgmental) girl. If they got caught, things could get very messy… But if they don’t, and should they remain as a female to the elder male, things could get even messier (if you know what I mean)…



Their colours also gives a massive disadvantage. As you see, these Papuan tribes are wearing Ranggiana Birds of Paradise upon their heads. However, most of their accessories might not display them so conspicuously. Due to hunting, illegal trading, habit destruction, and some of Papua’s traditional customs regarding these birds may already cause some of their 43 species (and some hybrids) to join the dinosaurs.

Traditional rituals of Papua required these birds, as they create the extremely attractive colours of their whole attire. The white men who returned to Europe brought along these plumes back with them (as a welcoming gift from the tribes) to which the women simply adore and soon became popular for their millinery purposes ever since. Since Indonesia is incredibly rich in natural resources (including these birds), deforestation is a grave threat to the lives of the Cendrawasih. Despite legal protection to these birds, many people are still smuggling these birds for illegal trade.

  

 As for the tribes and West Papua itself, protection agencies limit their hunts so that there will be enough for their traditional rituals. The Cendrawasih represents these people, it is not only a sign of beauty of their country, but a sign of political independence and freedom. They also represent some monetary value through stamps!