There are many birds on earth, but if you want to compete for the title of "most beautiful bird", then the answer given by naturalists is likely to have a bird of paradise.
More than four hundred years ago, on its journey back to Spain, Magellan's fleet brought back many local specialties from New Guinea through trade exchange, including specimens of the bird of paradise, and european aristocrats at that time were amazed to see birds with such beautiful feathers for the first time.
Illustrations of various birds of paradise
According to locals, this bird can fly in the sky for a long time with its wings, which is extremely difficult to catch, so it is also considered to be a "sacred bird" from heaven.
A colorful bird of paradise depicted by Croatian painters
It wasn't until the 19th century, when the famous biologist Alfred Russell Wallace spent six years collecting specimens of animals and birds in the Malay Archipelago, that he discovered that birds of paradise were not uncommon, but most of them lived at high altitudes, so it was difficult to find them.
Currently, there are 42 species of birds of paradise in the world, all concentrated in New Guinea, Indonesia and its nearby islands. Compared with other birds with gorgeous feathers, the bird of paradise may not be able to outperform them in terms of color matching, but when it comes to the tricks played on the feathers, the bird of paradise is much stronger.
For example, the male six-line windbird below, six long wire-like feathers extend from the upper direction of the eye, and finally form a flat tip at the tail end, and when courting, the long feathers will be shaken to attract the attention of the opposite sex.
The similar zodiac bird of paradise can probably imagine its appearance from the name, but slightly differently, it has adjusted the position of its feathers and grown on the tail, looking like it has inserted several wires in its butt.
There is also a blue bird of paradise, the abdomen and the silky feathers of the wings form a "gauze skirt", which feels quite good-looking, and there are two long tail feathers dragged at the tail, but it is a pity that it is a "women's clothing big guy".
They also have a "bad habit", when courtship, they like to hang upside down on the branches, so that the "gauze skirt" around the body hangs around like a fairy scattering flowers, and those who don't know think they are playing hooligans.
In the eyes of the female bird, this is not a rogue
However, among the many "brothers and sisters" of the Bird of Paradise, the most stealing scene is the gorgeous Bird of Paradise.
Let's take a look at the gorgeous Bird of Paradise in normal condition.
Well, decent, like a "bird".
But when they spread their wings, all we can see is a bright blue and two blue dots that appear to be "eyes", and almost all the features on the front are "blackened".
Eh, what about the bird before?
This phenomenon arises from their peculiar feather structure. By analyzing museum specimens, researchers at Harvard University discovered the cause of the black feathers of the bird of paradise.
The central axis of the general bird feather is called the "feather shaft", and the small partners who have seen the feather duster should have the impression that the part that grows along the feather axis to both sides is the feather, and the feather surface of ordinary birds is relatively flat, almost all located in the same plane.
The gorgeous Bird of Paradise is different. Under high magnification, their feathers are not tiled but curved upwards, and are very dense, stacked up like layers of arhats. In addition, each feather also has a complex branch structure, which greatly increases the irregularity of its surface.
This unique structure has one characteristic: it is very good at catching light. It is well known that when light shines on an object, its surface reflects a specific wavelength of visible light, such as when we see that an apple is red, precisely because the red light is reflected more.
But the feathers of the gorgeous bird of paradise are like a "small black hole", and the light can only "repeatedly jump" in the erect branch structure after hitting it, and finally get lost in the "chaotic jungle".
Scientists have compared these black feathers with the world's blackest material vantablack and found that both have a light absorption efficiency of 99.9%, but vantablack needs to be made of nanoscale carbon tubes at 400 ° C, while the gorgeous bird of paradise can achieve the same effect only under the feathers grown at room temperature.
To this end, scientists have been trying to find the reason why they evolved extreme black feathers. Because in nature, there are not a few animals and plants that use microstructure to produce bright colors, but there are relatively few species that use microscopic structures to completely absorb the color of light, such as some snakes, and they have evolved ultra-black scales to hide themselves and better approach their prey.
The recipe of the bird of paradise is generally only berries, seeds or figs, and occasionally catches a few worms and is not picky, how to see this black feather does not look like it is used for camouflage.
It wasn't until an in-depth study of the entire genus of birds of paradise that it was discovered that they evolved all kinds of fancy feathers just for courtship...
Therefore, only male birds of paradise have more colorful feathers and decorations, and compared to other birds of paradise, the gorgeous birds of paradise are more "mad", in order to highlight the colored feathers on the chest, the feathers on the wings have evolved into the ultimate black, so that in the background of pure black, the "blue scarf" on the chest appears more colorful.
However, it is not enough to open their wings, because their backs are actually very ordinary, so when offering courtesy to female birds, in order to only face their fronts towards the female birds, they also need to practice a flexible position to show their best state.
- Author Information -
Fish Fish Winner of the Silver Award for Excellent Popular Science Works of the China Association of Popular Science Writers, and a lover of various fish heads such as steamed fish heads and spicy fish heads.
Main reference sources:
【1】 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02088-w
The cover image comes from the web
Typography | Radish Juan
Audit | Calm beads, six flowers, butterfly wings