Among the most amazing creatures in the world, more than 40 species of birds-of-paradise live in New Guinea’s swaths of the Indo-Pacific rainforest region, one of the largest intact tropical forested areas on Earth.

The stars of the show in National Geographic and PBS Nature TV documentaries, the birds-of-paradise have become icons of New Guinea’s rainforests. Their extraordinary beauty is unlike that of any other birds on Earth, but it’s their wide range of bizarre breeding behaviors that captivates audiences—from elaborate dancing and flaring their elegant plumes to shape-shifting displays that make these exotic species seem like avian transformers.

Edwin Scholes is the founder and leader of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds-of-Paradise Project, and has been studying and documenting them since his first trip to New Guinea in 1999. It was in 1997 as an undergraduate biology student that Ed first saw the BBC documentary film “Attenborough in Paradise.” That film, which was the result of Sir David Attenborough’s lifelong passion for the birds-of-paradise, was the first to capture these birds’ wonder and beauty in any depth.  The film inspired Edwin to devote his career to their study and protection.

On Tuesday, March 16^th, at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will be delighted to host Ed Scholes to tell us about these amazing creatures, and the efforts to preserve their threatened habitat.   FMI:  www.birdsofparadiseproject.org

York County Audubon will be presenting this program online. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Jtyi8u8uRRy5aESZyx_4ZA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope you can join us!