Wahnes's Parotia

The Wahnes's Parotia is a medium sized passerine or the birds of paradise family. The male has an iridescent yellow-green breast shield, elongated black plumes, three erectile spatule head wires behind each eye, coppery-bronzed nasal tuft feathers and long, wedge-shaped tail feathers. The female is a rich brown bird with blackish head. This birds is between 14 and 16 inches long and approximate 16 inches in wingspan. It weighs 5 to 6 ounces. This little bird lives only in a small section of the northern coastal mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea. The diet of this bird is mainly fruits and anthropods. The male is plygamous and performs a spectacular courtship dance in the forest ground. Some call this his "ballerina dance."

The clutch contains one or two eggs. The are approximately 40 x 26 mm and have a pale cream base color. They have a varying pattern of streaks and dots, dense at the large end and very sparse on the other, and consisting of lower gray and an upper tan layer with some overlap. The German collector Carl Wahnes first discovered this bird in 1906. Experts estimated between 2,500 and 10,000 Wahnes's Parotia on earth.

In the 2009 issue of the National Geographic, the editors highlight this bird to encourage people to attempt to try to keep this bird alive and growing. We hope people will honor all of God's creatures, and support this and all creatures on earth.

The Wahnes's Parotia is another example of God's creativity. Those who see this bird must acknowledge the uniqueness of this creature. Every creature on earth is God's unique handiwork. YOU are unique. God created YOU. God loves YOU and cares for YOU. Appreciate YOURSELF. Appreciate all of God's creatures. Appreciate God. Worship and serve God daily.

What are YOUR thoughts? Share YOUR experiences with God's creatures here on earth. Let me hear from YOU.

John Willis