Western Parotia - West Papua Part 1

Our first day in the Arfak Mountains of West Papua started with a bang. After the two hour drive from the Manokwari Airport to Papua Lorikeet Lodge, our base for the next week, we began a steep hike to a hide for one of the most amazing birds of the entire trip.

Paradisaeidae, or Birds-of-Paradise, are known worldwide for their fascinating courtship displays. Pretty much every birder and naturalist I know has a memory of watching nature documentaries growing up featuring these amazing animals. Even within their family, the display of the Western Parotia stands above the others. The male parotia is almost completely black, so black in fact, that scientists believe it is one of the darkest colors to exist in the natural world. At first glance, the only colorful part of the bird is its deep blue eye, but once the display begins, it reveals a gorgeous blue and yellow iridescent throat that was previously hidden.

Our first view of the parotia was a female that briefly stopped by the display site but quickly moved on. At the time we were worried this would be our only sighting, but we were quickly proven wrong. Within 15 minutes, the male appeared. First surveying the site from above, before dropping down to do some maintenance. It only took a few minutes of cleaning before he decided it was good enough to begin.