Like lots of people, I grew up watching Sir David Attenborough’s nature documentaries for BBC. Though I didn’t follow his program, reruns of his adventures in the natural kingdom always seemed to be playing on the Discovery Channel when I was home sick from school, and I loved his introductions to exotic plants and animals.
In fact, Sir David has been delighting children with his nature programming for 35 years now with his Life series, which started in 1979 and explores everything from tropical rainforests to the behavior of hermit crabs. After listening to a request from a BBC coworker, he became particularly well-known for his nature specials on birds, particularly the Paradisaea apoda, or bird-of-paradise.
These dramatic birds are native to Papua New Guinea and other areas of the Oceania, and are famous for their dramatic plumage. Their beautiful feathers once made them a target of milliner’s looking for fashionable feathers to bring home to Europe, but the birds now enjoy protected status that has allowed their population to rebound, and, perhaps, get a little bit smug.
Despite Attenborough’s many years in the field, and his authority on tropical birds, it appears that his subjects aren’t always so respectful of a master at work. Watch as one member of the bird-of-paradise family — a creature whose notoriously flashy behavior has captured our attention in the past—declines to share the spotlight with the famed naturalist.
If this unbelievably beautiful bird cracked you up with his sass, please SHARE on Facebook with all of your friends who are amazed by Mother Nature’s mysteries!
