Editing Bird-of-paradise (section)

==Relationship with humans==
[[File:Paradisaea apoda -Bali Bird Park-6.jpg|thumb|left|Male [[greater bird-of-paradise]]]]
Societies of New Guinea often use bird-of-paradise plumes in their [[Culture of Papua New Guinea|dress and rituals]], and the plumes were popular in Europe in past centuries as adornment for ladies' [[Hat|millinery]].  Hunting for plumes and [[habitat destruction]] have reduced some species to endangered status; habitat destruction due to [[deforestation]] is now the predominant threat.<ref name = "HBW"/>

Best known are the members of the genus ''[[Paradisaea]]'', including the [[type species]], the [[greater bird-of-paradise]], ''Paradisaea apoda''. This species was described from specimens brought back to Europe from trading expeditions in the early sixteenth century. These specimens had been prepared by native traders by removing their wings and feet so that they could be used as decorations. This was not known to the explorers, and in the absence of information, many beliefs arose about them. They were briefly thought to be the mythical [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]]. The often footless and wingless condition of the skins led to the belief that the birds never landed but were kept permanently aloft by their plumes. The first Europeans to encounter their skins were the voyagers in [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s [[circumnavigation]] of the [[Earth]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Andaya|first=Leonard|title=Flights of fancy: The bird of paradise and its cultural impact|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/4622573F050E7B15FF75485C28AC9678/S0022463417000546a.pdf/flights_of_fancy_the_bird_of_paradise_and_its_cultural_impact.pdf|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|publication-date=October 2017|pages=374}}</ref> [[Antonio Pigafetta]] wrote that "The people told us that those birds came from the terrestrial paradise, and they call them bolon diuata, that is to say, 'birds of God'."<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1086/348872|last=Harrison|first=Thomas P.|year=1960|title=Bird of Paradise: Phoenix Redivivus |journal=Isis|volume=51|issue=2|pages=173–180 |s2cid=145329486}}</ref>  This is the origin of both the name "bird of paradise" and the specific name ''apoda'' – without feet.<ref>{{cite book | last = Jobling | first = James A.  | title = A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 1991 | location = Oxford | pages = 15–16 | isbn = 0-19-854634-3 }}</ref> An alternate account by [[Maximilianus Transylvanus]] used the term Mamuco Diata, a variant of Manucodiata, which was used as a synonym for birds-of-paradise up to the 19th century.

===Birdwatching===
In recent years the availability of pictures and videos about birds of paradise on the internet has raised the interest of birdwatchers around the world. Many of them fly to [[Western New Guinea|West Papua]] to watch various species of birds of paradise from Wilson's Bird of Paradise (''Diphyllodes respublica'') and Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra) in [[Raja Ampat]] to Lesser Birds of Paradise (''Paradisaea minor''), Magnificent Riflebird (''Ptiloris magnificus''), King Bird of Paradise (''Cicinnurus regius''), crescent-caped lophorina (''Lophorina niedda''),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-14|title=Rare Footage of New Bird of Paradise Species Shows Odd Courtship Dance {{!}} Nat Geo Wild|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPhVOZiPokA|access-date=2020-09-20|website=YouTube}}</ref> and Magnificent Bird of Paradise (''Diphyllodes magnificus'') in [[Susnguakti]] forest.

This activity significantly reduces the number of local villagers who are involved in the hunting of paradise birds.

===Hunting===
Hunting of birds of paradise has occurred for a long time, possibly since the beginning of human settlement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Andaya|first=Leonard Y.|date=2017|title=Flights of fancy: The bird of paradise and its cultural impact|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|language=en|volume=48|issue=3|pages=372–389|doi=10.1017/S0022463417000546|issn=0022-4634|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is a peculiarity that among the most frequently hunted species, males start mating opportunistically even before they grow their ornamental plumage. This may be an adaptation to maintaining population levels in the face of hunting pressures, which have probably been present for hundreds of years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Laska|first1=Mark S.|last2=Hutchins|first2=Michael|last3=Sheppard|first3=Christine|last4=Worth|first4=Wendy|last5=Hundgen|first5=Kurt|last6=Bruning|first6=Don|date=Jun 1992|title=Reproduction by Captive Unplumed Male Lesser Bird of Paradise Paradisaea minor : Evidence for an Alternative Mating Strategy?|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1071/MU9920108|journal=Emu - Austral Ornithology|language=en|volume=92|issue=2|pages=108–111|doi=10.1071/MU9920108|issn=0158-4197}}</ref>

The naturalist, explorer, and author [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] spent six years in the region, which he chronicled in ''[[The Malay Archipelago]]'' (published in 1869). His expedition team shot, collected, and described many specimens of animals and birds, including the great, king, twelve-wired, superb, red, and six-shafted birds of paradise.<ref>Wallace, Alfred Russel. ''The Malay Archipelago''. London: Macmillan, 1869.</ref>

[[Plume hunting|Hunting to provide plumes]] for the millinery trade was extensive in the late 19th and early 20th century,<ref>{{cite book | last = Cribb | first = Robert | year = 1997 | chapter = Birds of paradise and environmental politics in colonial Indonesia, 1890–1931 | editor1-last = Boomgaard | editor1-first = Peter | editor2-last = Columbijn | editor2-first = Freek | editor3-last = Henley | editor3-first = David | title = Paper landscapes: explorations in the environmental history of Indonesia | pages = 379–408 | publisher = KITLV Press | location = Leiden, The Netherlands | isbn = 90-6718-124-2}}</ref> but today the birds have legal protection except for hunting at a sustainable level to fulfill the ceremonial needs of the local tribal population. In the case of ''[[Pteridophora]]'' plumes, scavenging from old [[bowerbird]] bowers is encouraged.

===Other examples===
* The southern hemisphere constellation [[Apus]] represents a bird-of-paradise.
* An adult-plumaged male bird-of-paradise is depicted on the [[flag of Papua New Guinea]], designed by [[Susan Karike]].
* The various members of the family were profiled by [[David Attenborough]] in ''[[Attenborough in Paradise]]''.
* The Indonesian Army has a Military Area Command named after "Cenderawasih", the local name for the bird.
* The plume from the bird of paradise was used in ''[[Shripech]]'', the royal crown worn by the [[King of Nepal]], before the establishment of a republic. Now, the crown is housed in [[Narayanhiti Palace|Naraynhiti Palace Museum]].