Two weeks ago, Ashley and I attended a National Geographic Live presentation at the Jack Singer concert hall. The presentation featured photographs and video of Birds-of-Paradise by scientist and field biologist Edwin Scholes from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and National Geographic photographer Tim Laman. These two gentlemen walked us through 8 years and 18 expeditions to New Guinea and Australia as they documented all 39 species of birds-of-paradise.
Ashley loves birds, and she was all over this presentation. And while I do not generally share her avian fascination, I found myself thoroughly entranced by the images and video these gentlemen had to share. A few examples follow...
Photograph by Tim Laman
Photograph by Tim Laman
First of all, I had no idea that birds like this existed in the world. Birds of Paradise have evolved in New Guinea where they have virtually no predators, and little competition for food. As a result, they have developed strange and elaborate ornamentation, and even stranger mating rituals.
Photograph by Tim Laman.
Here are a few of my favourite videos from the night. VERY interesting!
You can find an extensive collection of Tim Laman's photographs at his website, www.timlaman.com, and an huge variety of information at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds-of-Paradise-Project.
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