Birds of Paradise: Revealing the World's Most Extraordinary Birds

It's probably not really possible to do justice to the Birds of Paradise in a book. That's why the video that is available as well should be obtained as well. (Not sure whether it will run on European computers though. This stupid area coding needs to be abandoned, at least in such cases where there is no alternative source.) The fine trailer shows these birds in their fascinating movements. Thus, the book is in a way a substitute only, as it can't really convey movements well. But with that limitation, this is nevertheless a stunning book. It provides lots of info and photos of this spectacular bird group. And we also get to see what it takes to reap such a fine harvest of photos and video sequences. I like the horizontal format as it allows fine wide spreads of pictures. National Geographic has long had a tendency to rather publish underexposed than overly bright pictures. And to my eyes, their pictures are often overly brownish-reddish. This book is no exception. A typical example is on p. 72, where the water of the stream is probably more gray than it should be, particularly in the highlights. And I suspect that the cover is also a typical example of the problem mentioned. I think the thumbnail on the Amazon page is closer to the true colors regarding the branch and the background. The benefit of the general underexposure is that the spectacular colors are not washed out in the light parts. But instead, the dark parts are often rather lacking details.To see what I mean regarding the red-brown color bias, compare the book with the video. That is quite revealing.

I have always had a fascination with the birds of paradise. I am not sure where or when I first saw pictures of these incredible birds but it was many many many years ago.This is the book I had hoped for and it finally has been printed.I was most fortunate in a visit to the Zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia to have a Greater Bird-Of-Paradise sit on my arm for 5 or so minutes while I fed it mealy worms. You could purchase a small cup of mealy worms from a attendant and then the bird would fly from a high perch and sit on your arm waiting to be fed. The thrill of seeing that bird so very close and being able to observe it as it ate was a thrill I will never forget. The dents left in my arm from the claws were uncomfortable to say the least but well worth it to see him so close.The video "Birds of the Gods" by David Attenborough was also fantastic and if you haven't seen it it is an absolute must. I hope that the video on this book by National Geographic to be issued later this month is as good as the book.I did read another reviewer offering some criticism about the photography in the book. I absolutely could find no fault with the colors or the beauty of the pictures. I notice in some pictures that some of the feathers are out of focus blurring them and this is because of the birds motion and/or depth of field problems and not the fault of the photographer. The colors of these birds as shown from what I have seen in person and in Attenborough's video are spot on. Their brilliance is almost unbelievable. The color saturation of the feathers are intense to say the least.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated with the Birds of Paradise.My only criticism of the book it that I would rather have it in a vertical format rather than "letter box".

For those of us who have been following the BoP's for years, this book is the perfect complement to the BBC documentaries made and the books written on what I truly believe are the most fascinating animals on Earth. The pictures and text are way beyond anything I have seen before (and I must say, have quite a collection of material on these birds). At first sight, some of the pictures seem surreal (the page 2 Greater Bird of Paradise's shot from the canopy on Wokam, Aru Islands, is, by itself, worth the money spent on this book) and impossible to take, but just reading about all the years of hard work it took Mr. Laman, Mr. Scholes and his collaborators to complete these masterpiece, one can truly understand what an amazing contribution this book is to and to future generations who love nature at its best. I have already bought a copy for a friend and plan to buy more for other friends because I believe the lives of these amazing creatures need to be learned by as many people as possible. I can not think of a better gift to show people that we human beings are just a tiny part of the animal kingdom, and that many animals are as fascinating as us. As a client of many years of Amazon.com, this is the first review I have ever written, but this book is also the most exciting item I have ever bought in the site, and totally worth a few praising words.Jose,Brooklyn, New York

Art reference

I love this book! The images are extraordinary, but what I loved as well are the treatments of the history of discovery, the habitat, and the avian biology. This book makes me burst into sentence fragments: My, to see a passage between islets that Wallace took! To see species discovered by Mayr! To see the authors in their camps and in their photo blinds! To glimpse field notebooks of first-realized behaviors! And darned near coolest of all, to have and to be able to study lovely maps of the species' distribution! The text is spare but essential to the book. The whole package is a voyage of discovery. Give this book to your family and to everyone you know. I received a book such as this as a child, with text then much beyond my ability to understand--but I grew into it, and that book inspired me for a lifetime. So--inspire your loved ones. And, by the way--support field biology expeditions! There is much yet to learn about our world.

Birds from another world, so beautiful. Incredible work from the authors.A nicer paper/print quality would have made this book a 10 out of 10, a 9 for me ... still wonderful.

When I first heard about this book I got excited because I really love birds of paradise, it's always been a subject that interests me a lot. I was already familiar with Tim Laman's and Edwin Scholes' work but honestly this book suprised me a lot, it is so much better than I expected. The pictures in it are just extraordinary and all the work done by the authors is remarkable; even the quality of the paper is very good. I couldn't be happier to have this treasure finally in my hands!

Absolutely loved it. A must read book for every bird lover.

Lindas imagens recomendo a todos, a entrega chegou antes do esperado. Muito satisfeito com o produto. Essas aves parecem ter vindo de um outro planeta, tamanha beleza.

In a world where natural landscapes are vastly disappearing it was wonderful to be reminded of the stunning beauty that surrounds us, when and if we stop interfering and destroying the last remaining wilderness spaces on the planet.This book to me was a reminder of how precious out pristine wildlife can be and how as guardians we should all act to protect the wildlife and eco systems that thrive in the space. My wish is that more humans one day wake up to the reality that places like the forests of Papua New Guinea remain protected for as long as is possible, so that the beauty of the birds of paradise species can continue to live and thrive in their natural habitat indefinitely.