“Birds Of Paradise” Project Aims To Reveal Birds Unlike Anything You’ve Ever Seen

Wildlife Photographer Tim Laman has been working on the Birds of Paradise project for over 10 years, hiking countless miles through undisturbed rainforests to seek out and capture some of the most unique birds that are native to only New Guinea. In this trailer for both the photo exhibit and National Geographic documentary, get a sneak peek at the almost alien like avian species that inhabit the rainforest. There are brief glimpses at some interesting behind the scenes elements, where we see Tim Laman roping up to a perch in the middle of the brush.

Shooting birds this deep in the wild doesn’t come without its challenges. Time Laman commented in his Field Notes on Nat Geo’s site the following:

“Few Westerners ever get to see the bird of paradise’s courtship display in the wild. It took a lot of time, effort, and help from specialist Edwin Scholes and from local people to locate display sites in the remote forests of New Guinea. Once we found one, we built a blind where I could wait out of sight. Then came the long hours of anticipation. At some sites—even after spending many days in blinds—I never got any pictures because the male never came and displayed. But then there were those moments when the birds did show up. I experienced heart-thumping seconds when I saw such scenes as the blue bird of paradise flip over to his upside-down position and perform his astonishing hanging display, spreading his breast plumes into a fan, bouncing and buzzing, and waving his tail wires. He did something that is totally ordinary in his world but truly bizarre in ours. Being a witness to such spectacles of nature made all the hard work and discomfort worthwhile.”

Photograph by Tim Laman.
[Via Nat Geo]