Paradise Riflebird, O'Reilly's, Australia

The birding highlight of our trip along with the Cassowary! After looking for Victoria's Riflebird in the Cairns area and only getting poor glimpses we assumed we would not get to a see a bird of paradise in the wild. Australia has four types and we had a chance to see either Victoria's near Cairns or Paradise at O'Reilly's. We had a decent chance in Cairns since Victoria's display on posts starting in July (when we visited) so that is a chance to see them up close in full splendor. However, both posts Del Richards knew about resulted in no riflebird. Instead we saw them deep in very high foliage so none of the male's colors could be seen. The Paradise Riflebird at O'Reilly's displays on branches later in the season and O'Reilly's forests are dense tropical forests making it difficult to get good looks. However, our guide said on rare occasions the Paradise Riflebird comes down low at a fruiting tree next to the lodge. Amazingly on the final evening of our stay this is exactly what happened. We got close looks for 30 minutes of this amazing Bird of Paradise with irridescent blue and green with long yellow bill.

Aditya and Gowri were in the room while I was witnessing this spectacle but there was enough time for them to come look as well. Quite a finale for our Australia trip!

 


 

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