Birds of Paradise

"The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae [and] the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas and eastern Australia.

The family has forty species in 14 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of most species, in particular highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings or head.

For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-based polygamy." [continues]

The set of images below (all assiduously background cleaned) would be more accurately titled: Birds of Paradise AND Friends.

They come from an 1806, 2-volume work called 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis et des Rolliers, suivie de celle des Toucans et des Barbus' by François Levaillant and Jacques Barraband {featured on BibliOdyssey recently with Toucans}.

• 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis et des Rolliers, suivie de celle des Toucans et des Barbus' is owned by Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire de Neuchâtel and made available online via the Swiss E-Rara portal.
• "David Attenborough & birds of paradise" HD videos at Youtube.
• Earlier this year, the Folio Society released a limited edition deluxe reprint of the classic 'Sharpes' Birds of Paradise' {1890s} and the film of their presentation of the volume to David Attenborough is highly recommended. It is this book and that group of exquisite birds that are largely responsible for Attenborough having pursued his life's work of documenting and sharing the living world with us all.
• Paradisaeidae: Birds of paradise Flickr pool.
• 'The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae' 1998 by CB Frith & BM Beehler.
• Research site on birds of paradise by ornithologist Edwin Scholes III (arguably one of the better all-round online sites of authority)
• Passeriformes: Birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae).
• Related recent post: Toucans.
• Previously on BibliOdyssey: fauna.
• BibliOdyssey on Twitter.