I announce that all the little sisters here are contracted by me.

I have heard that there is a kind of bird in the world that has no feet. It can only fly and fly all the time. When it is tired, it sleeps in the wind. This kind of bird can only go to the ground once in its life, and that is when it dies.

-- the True Story of Alfie

This classic line, coupled with my brother's voice and unique interpretation, is extremely impressive and can not be forgotten for a long time. The prototype of the bird without feet is Paradisaea apoda, the great bird of paradise that we are going to introduce today.

The great flying bird of paradise. Picture: Eka Novianto / Fivehundredpx

Where does the bird without feet come from?

The great bird of paradise, belonging to the genus Paradelpidae, is a magpie-sized bird that lives in the low-altitude mountain forests of the Aru Islands and New Guinea. The great taxonomist Linnai named the great bird of paradise, and the real name apoda means "no feet". But why did he give the great bird of paradise the title of "bird without feet"? The story begins with Magellan's voyage around the world.

Ferdinand? Magellan (Fern?o de Magalh?es) Picture: wikipedia

On August 10, 1519, the ambitious Magellan led a fleet of five ships and about 270 people from Seville, Spain, in an attempt to complete the first round-the-world voyage in human history. For more than three years, the fleet experienced bad weather, crew rebellion and war, and Magellan was killed in the war in the Philippines. The only remaining Victoria of the fleet is in Juan? Sebastian? Under the leadership of Juan Sebasti á n Elcano, he successfully returned to Spain and brought back many precious objects, including specimens of the great bird of paradise.

Drawing of specimens of birds of paradise that arrived in Europe in the early days: two on the left are based on the specimens of the great birds of paradise, the third on the left may be sub-adult birds, the fourth on the left is artistically exaggerated, the fifth is closer to the little bird of paradise according to its shape, and the rightmost is a king bird of paradise. Picture: John Johnston (1773)

The specimens of these birds of paradise are just dry skins, and there are no signs of wings or feet except that the beak can prove that they are birds. The surviving crew of the Victoria did not know the exact origin of the birds, nor did the aborigines they traded with know what the great bird of paradise looked like when it was alive. At that time, when sea monsters, giants and other legends prevailed, the surviving sailors also made up a legend for the specimens of these great birds of paradise-these birds did not need wings and feet, and usually roamed beyond the human field of vision. They did not have to go down to look for food, sucked dew when they were hungry and thirsty, and only fell to the ground when they died and were found by humans.

Naturalists imagine a large bird of paradise without wings and feet when alive, and the fourth on the left in the previous picture is based on its color. Picture: Ulisse Aldrovandi (1599)

The specimens were so amazing that people in Europe thought they could only live in heaven, so they accepted the strange setting of "birds without feet". In the paintings of artists and naturalists at that time, the bird of paradise also existed without legs and wings. At the same time, this statement has also been introduced into all kinds of literary works.

The two birds circled in the sky on the right are the birds of paradise. Photo: Roelant Savery / Landscape with Birds by Roelant Savery (1628)

With the development of nautical activities, by the time Linnai lived, a large number of specimens of birds of paradise had flooded into Europe. At this time, naturalists have discovered that the bird of paradise does not have wings and feet, but perhaps to pay homage to this saying, or for some other reason, Linnai still gave it the name "Paradisaea apoda".

A variety of birds of paradise and their distribution. Picture: Natural History Museum of Utah

To be good-looking is also to find someone.

The great bird of paradise is a typical sex-diploid bird. The male's feathers are extremely gorgeous and high-key, most of the body feathers are beautiful brown, and the most amazing is the cascading feathers that grow from its flanks (the parts of the bird's body near the legs). The feather color of the female is extremely bleak and low-key, and her body is smaller. So why is there such a sharp contrast between females and males?

Big bird of paradise, left male and right female. Photo: Daniel Giraud Eliiot / A monograph of the Paradiseidae or birds of paradise (1873)

Under the theoretical framework of natural selection, the ornate feathering of male birds seems to be an encumbrance, making them easy to attract the attention of natural enemies, which is not conducive to their survival. So what on earth is the reason why these gorgeous feathers are preserved? After seeing the courtship show off of the great bird of paradise, naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace found the answer to this question.

In Wallace during his expedition to the Malay Islands, a king bird of paradise was placed on the table. Picture: English Heritage Photo Library

During his expedition to the Malay Islands, Wallace carefully observed the courtship display of the great bird of paradise. Like the black grouse and the prairie grouse, the bird of paradise has a courtship field, except that its courtship field is not on the ground, but on the top of tall trees with a broad field of vision in the forest. There are usually about 20 males in a courtship field, and these males gather here during the annual breeding season (usually from the end of October to February of the following year).

Once a female approaches, the males will try their best to show their charm, keep singing hoarse, lower their wings, erect the feathers under their wings, and form a feather waterfall on their back. If the female is more interested in a male, the female will take a closer look, and the male will start his ballet performance passionately, jump quickly on the female's back while the female is intoxicated, and then get her wish. After mating, the female leaves on her own to find a suitable place to nest and lay eggs, raising her offspring as a single mother. The male continues to stay in the courtship field, waiting for the next female to arrive.

A big bird of paradise dancing in a courtship dance. Source: LabofOrnithology / youtube

The central position is very important.

The bird courtship field is somewhat similar to the human draft stage, and every male bird in the courtship field should have a chance to win the favor of the female. But in fact, all the mating events that take place in the courtship field of a great bird of paradise, the hero is usually the same male, which may be because the male occupies the most popular habitat for females. This is a good thing for females. Males compete for the most popular perch by showing off and fighting, while females no longer need to spend too much energy judging males one by one. Instead, they go straight to the C position to hold hands as the most powerful male guest.

Female and male birds of paradise that are indescribable. Picture: Loic Degen / HBW Alive

As the saying goes, the Great Wall was not built in a day, and Rome was not built in a day. Male birds of paradise also have to wait six or seven years to fully develop those exaggerated feathers. Before that, these young males looked more like females, often stopping at the edge of the courtship field, observing and learning the performances of older individuals, and practicing from time to time to master dance skills as quickly as possible. However, because they look so much like females, sometimes some older males even get confused and try to mate with these young males.

The victim of the feather trade

The gorgeous feathers of the great bird of paradise also killed them. Among the indigenous tribes of New Guinea, the great bird of paradise and other birds of paradise are often regarded as a prize by the locals. Aboriginal clothes are usually decorated with a variety of luxurious bird of paradise feathers. On some important occasions and festivals, the men of these indigenous tribes wear these exquisite feather ornaments, dance their bodies and show off like birds of paradise to express their desire for the opposite sex.

The great bird of paradise in courtship. Picture: Loic Degen / HBW Alive

As soon as the specimen of the bird of paradise arrived in Europe, it caused a sensation in society. At that time, the European royal aristocracy demonstrated their power and taste by collecting these rare specimens. From the 19th century to the first decade of the 20th century, these seemingly strange feathers were paired with exquisite hats and clothes and became the most fashionable ornaments at that time.

Unlike the aborigines of the great bird of paradise and the island of Coyote, these feather ornaments are worn on women in Europe. It is speculated that millions of different birds of paradise fell victim to the feather trade, which did not stop until the middle of the 20th century. What is gratifying, however, is that the wild population of the bird of paradise is relatively stable, with the IUCN species listed as non-endangered on the red list.

Another digression here: long before Western navigators arrived in Malaysia and New Guinea, Zheng he, a navigator of the Ming Dynasty, passed through the surrounding areas many times on his voyage to the West. Even earlier, residents along the coast of China had had small-scale activities to go to South Asia, which should have come into contact with specimens of birds of paradise. In the Song Dynasty, Song Huizong painted a picture of a five-color parrot, Trichoglossus ornatus, a gorgeous honey-sucking parrot that is very close to the bird of paradise. Perhaps because Chinese people prefer living birds and are not interested in these dry specimens, there are few pictures and written records about birds of paradise in the history of our country.

A picture of a five-color parrot. Photo: song Huizong / existing Museum in Boston, USA

Gorgeous honey-sucking parrot. Picture: Fred / wikipedia

Let's end with Wallace's words in his book "The Malay Archipelago"--

All kinds of life on earth are not created for human beings. Most of them have nothing to do with us, and their reproduction is not attached to human beings. Their laughter, love, hatred, struggle for survival, vitality and length of life seem to be related only to themselves, their kind, and other creatures closely related to them.

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Gorgeous wind birds of the family Ornidae