Wilson's bird of paradise Archives

Glowing Birds-of-Paradise — Male King Bird-of-Paradise (Cicinnurus regius)

Some of the most colorful and fascinating birds are the more than 40 species in the Paradisaeidae family, known as birds-of-paradise. They are more than just colorful; they are extravagant in their ornamentation and in their mating rituals. We have previously looked at the King of Saxony bird-of-paradise and Wilson’s bird-of-paradise. Studying these birds always reveals something new. In February 2025, a team of researchers published a new study about glowing birds-of-paradise.

Birds-of-paradise inhabit the rainforests of New Guinea and Australia, where they showcase their dazzling colors and remarkable features. Rene Martin, a University of Nebraska ichthyologist (a scientist who studies fish), specializes in deep-sea glow-in-the-dark fish. Some of her colleagues mentioned birds that seem to gleam, which led her to expose some specimens of birds-of-paradise at the American Museum of Natural History to UV light.

What Martin discovered was glowing birds-of-paradise. Thirty-seven species showed biofluorescence under ultraviolet light. Seeing them with human eyes was impressive, but for the specialized eyes of birds, it must be even more dramatic. Unsurprisingly, the males glow the most. For example, the entire belly of the male king bird-of-paradise seems to glow under UV light. Females exhibit some scattered and subdued glowing areas, which might help them camouflage in the sun-dappled rainforest. Meanwhile, the biofluorescence of the males could enhance their brilliant colors in the dark rainforest.

The discovery of these glowing birds-of-paradise reminds us that it’s easy to overlook what is right in front of us. Edwin Scholes, founder and director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds-of-Paradise Project, said, “Just when people think, ‘Oh, we must know everything there is to know about birds-of-paradise,’ we find something completely mind-blowing. There’s still a lot to be discovered.”

What new insights will science uncover about God’s creation in the coming days and years? The more we learn, the more we realize the truth of Romans 1:20, which tells us we can know there is a God by the things He has made.

Reference: allaboutbirds.org

Beauty in the Natural World - Wilson's Bird of Paradise

Everywhere we look, we see beauty in the natural world. One example of that is Wilson’s bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus respublica). This unique and exotic bird displays extravagant plumes and feathers that capture attention.

Males are more brightly colored than females. They have a black head with a turquoise crown and yellow feathers on the nape of the neck. Their iridescent tail feathers form the shape of a handlebar mustache. These birds flash and shimmer their colors in the gloom of the forest floor only on two islands in Indonesia.

The most fascinating behavior of Wilson’s bird-of-paradise is the vivid and complex dance males perform to entice females. Because his movements are so robust that he needs an open space free of clutter, he first crafts his “dance floor.” To prepare the dancing area, the bird clears the ground of leaves and other obstacles that could disrupt his performance. Scientists have tested this behavior by placing leaves in front of the bird. That obstruction provoked the bird, causing him to immediately clear the leaves from the area.

A female will find a perching spot on a branch to watch the show from above. As the male dances, she examines every detail of his routine to decide whether to choose him as a mate. Wilson’s bird of paradise females are very critical performance judges.

The dancing ability and intelligence of these birds are astonishing. Wilson’s bird-of-paradise is only one of God’s many beautiful and fascinating species. You can read about more of them at THIS LINK. Beauty in the natural world is difficult to explain by naturalistic evolution since, in many cases, the beauty has no survival value. However, a creative Designer who loves beauty would certainly create a beautiful world and give humans, created in His image, the ability to enjoy and be inspired by beauty in the natural world.