History Lesson #2 The Birds of Paradise

Although there may not seem to be a link between the Eclectus parrot of New Guinea and the beautiful Birds of Paradise, early writings by very distant voyagers to this region and stories told by the natives of this strange land do illustrate a beautiful and wonderful fantasy about these two beautiful groups of birds. Let us first discuss the Birds of Paradise. Forty-five species exist with all but six being found on the Island of New Guinea. The remaining six come from the Cape of York Peninsula of Australia. It is the fabulous plumage that attracted so much attention from the Royal Society of England (Sir Isaac Newton was their President from 1642 - 1727). The first reports were verbal only, followed by a few skins.

Four centuries ago, John Huyghen van Linschoten wrote about the beautiful Birds of Paradise during his voyage to the East Indies. "In these Islands only is found the bird, which the Portuguese call "passaros de Sol,' that is - "Fowl of the Sun," the Italians call it 'Manu codiatas,' the Latinists call it 'Paradiseas, and by us (English), Paradise-birds, for ye beauty of their feathers which pass all other birds; these birds are never seen alive, but being dead, they fall on the Island, they fly, as it is said away into the Sun, and keep themselves continually in the air, without lighting on the earth, for they have neither feet nor wings, but only a head and body and the most part being the tail....."

The Birds of Paradise have fantastic plumage and when told that they only fly in from the sun it was like a fiery meteor. It was probably the Lesser Bird of Paradise with its brilliant overflowing yellowish-orange tail feathers or the Raggiana Bird of Paradise (with its long, flashy red-orange tail feathers) that they observed. They really appeared to to come from the sun. Rene Larson, the first outsider to record these birds in the natural wild state was so overwhelmed by what he saw that he wrote "The sight of this first bird of paradise was out of this world. The flintlocks in our hands did not move we were so amazed." He added a statement further in the text that said, "...suddenly in a slight curve a bird of paradise flew gracefully over our heads, like a meteor."

It is not surprising that the very first Bird of Paradise skins that were sent to England in those early times had their feet removed. They had been cut off at the edge where the beautiful feathers had begun. It was to further enhance the wonderful fantasy of the "out of this world" bird of paradise. It had truly come from Paradise.

Remember that the first Bird of Paradise were observed before the Eclectus was seen in its native state. This can easily be understood after knowing the secretive habits of the Eclectus in the wild. They literally do not move unless they need to.

The Sun was revered by the natives of the East Indies. The land of New Guinea and all of the East Indies had many beautiful-colored parrots such as lories. But seldom was there a large parrot of the beauty of the Eclectus parrot. The common White Cockatoos had been "bleached" by the sun whereas the Eclectus had attained colors from the Sun.

Both sexes of the Eclectus parrot were green in color. The female Eclectus had been sent to the Sun as a representative of the Island People to obtain fertility in both the field crops and in the people . When she arrived at the doorstep of the Sun she was glorified and sent back to the earth to be with the Island People with their prayers. The Sun had blessed her, not as the cockatoo who was bold and had approached too quickly, (thus the bleached white feathers and yellow singed tail). The female Eclectus turned brilliant red (from the sun's brilliant rays) in the head and back as she flew to the sun and returned to earth. Because of her obedience, she was given a queen's robe that was made of the finest royal bluish purple and made of the finest hair of a heavenly creature known as the Cuscus, a real mammal that still lives in the forests of New Guinea and the East Indies. It has a lot of very fine fur and this fur is still used by the village chiefs. It is part of the royalty that can be seen in the beautiful costumes and dances of the Sing Sings of New Guinea. It is from this coat or robe that Eclectus get their fine hair-like feathers especially on their chests. Thus the early name of "Grand" Eclectus.

The male Eclectus was not sent to the Sun to be a representative, but he failed to obey and tried to follow the female on her journey to the Sun. He was not supposed to enter into the heavenly realm as he was to remain on earth to encourage the return of his mate. During his mad dash after his mate, he was met with the fury of the Sun and he quickly turned back. He had only entered the realm of the Sun with his beak and even then it was only his upper mandible that was burned with a brilliant red-orange color. His lower mandible stayed black.

When the female returned to earth, she gave the Sun's blessing of fertility to the Island People. For her obedience, she was given the power and leadership of her species. This is why the female Eclectus is the dominate bird of the husband and wife team and considered by many to be the most beautiful. The German name for the Eclectus species is Edelpapagein, or the "Noble" parrot, noble meaning regal or elegant in nature, and this indeed is what they are.