Published on Oct 11, 2012

Explore more: http://www.birdsofparadiseproject.org 

The Birds-of-Paradise Project reveals the astounding beauty of 39 of the most exquisitely specialized animals on earth. After 8 years and 18 expeditions to New Guinea, Australia, and nearby islands, Cornell Lab scientist Ed Scholes and National Geographic photojournalist Tim Laman succeeded in capturing images of all 39 species in the bird-of-paradise family for the first time ever. This trailer gives a sense of their monumental undertaking and the spectacular footage that resulted. Filmed by Tim Laman, Ed Scholes, and Eric Liner.

Also be on the lookout for the Cornell Lab's and National Geographic's gorgeous coffee-table book (http://amzn.to/RYb7IL), a major exhibit at the National Geographic Museum (http://ngmuseum.org/bop), a TV documentary (http://amzn.to/12jtkBL), articles in Living Bird (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.asp...) and National Geographic magazines, and a North American lecture tour (http://bit.ly/VRD6eJ).

Birds of Paradise 80M gif gfycat: http://gfycat.com/BeautifulDiligentHornet

Reddit comments: http://reddit.com/r/HighQualityGifs/comments/2ph688/birds_of_paradise/