Pirates of the Sky

These lovely seabirds are known as "avian pirates" or "Pirates of Sky" because they steal much of their food from other birds that are carrying their prey back to their nest. Skuas strike by attacking in midair and forcing them to drop their prey. These aggressive birds sometimes gather in a flock to overwhelm their victims.

Photograph by Paul Nicklen:

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Singing Feathers of Manakins Bird (Video)

A new study from Cornell University claims to identify a new bird specie (Club-winged Manakins) that creates singing sounds with the feathers of their wings. The study set out to prove that the bird is using its wing feathers to create its violin like sound. The study shows that Manakins vibrates its wings at more than 100 cycles per seconds twice the speed of hummingbirds. Using laysers to monitor feather vibrations, it was observed that the manakins clubed shaped feathers vibrate at 1500 hertz. This is the same frequency of the sound made by the manakins. There are also other birds that use their wings in this manner. This new evidence places this bird with arthropods which also uses their wings to produce singing sound such as crickets

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The Birth of Anaconda (Video)

Anacondas are large, nonvenomous snakes found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the green anaconda, one of the largest snakes in the world and possibly the longest.

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For New Guinea's birds of paradise, attracting a mate is a performing art.

By Jennifer S. Holland

National Geographic Staff

Photograph by Tim Laman

His bend is deep and dignified even as his cape of velvet black feathers rises to expose pale flanks. Springy wires topping his head tap the ground, one, two, one, two. The showman's stage is a patch of earth that he's cleared of forest debris before scattering beakfuls of roots, like petals in a bride's path. His audience: a row of skeptical females fidgeting on an overhanging limb. Their attention is fleeting, so he launches into his routine, toeing forward on skinny legs like a ballerina en pointe. He pauses for dramatic effect, then moves into the jungle boogie. His neck sinks and his head bobs, head wires bouncing on the offbeat. He hops and shakes, wings flapping or tucked in, chin whiskers fluttering.

His performance has the desired effect. The nearest female quivers in invitation, and with a nasal blast the dancer jumps her. Feathered commotion blocks the view, and it's unclear whether the romp is successful. But no matter: Another show will begin soon.

Here in the sweaty, vine-tied jungle of New Guinea is nature's most absurd theater, the mating game of the birds of paradise. No other birds on Earth go about the business of breeding quite like these. To dazzle choosy females, males strut in costumes worthy of the stage: cropped capes, shiny breast shields, head ribbons, bonnets, beards, neck wattles, and wiry feathers that curl like handlebar mustaches. Their vivid reds, yellows, and blues blaze against the relentless green of the rain forest. What makes for the sexiest mix of costume and choreography is a mystery, but it seems the more extreme the better.

Birds of paradise perch on an improbable branch of the avian family tree, the flashy cousins of straitlaced ravens and crows. They began splitting off from their bland kin millions of years ago, evolving into today's 38 eclectic species. Of these, 34 live only on New Guinea and its satellite islands.

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