First published in the United Kingdom by Helm/Bloomsbury in 2019.

This authoritative handbook, part of the Helm Identification Guide series, looks in detail at the remarkable and diverse birds of paradise – perhaps the ultimate birders' birds. Renowned for their elaborate and dazzling plumages, the birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) and bowerbirds (Ptilonohynchidae) exhibit some of the most astonishing behaviours in the avian kingdom. The former is the most iconic group of birds found in New Guinea, while the bowerbirds extend into Australia, and are perhaps best known for the males' construction of avenue bowers, used to tempt females on the forest floor. This comprehensive monograph is dedicated to these two families, combining the product of more than two decades of research and scholarship with original observations by the author and many other knowledgeable contributors. Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds is the ultimate reference to these two groups. It provides a thorough guide to their identification, taxonomy and ecology, with detailed distribution maps accompanying the text. A series of beautifully illustrated plates by Richard Allen cover all of the 108 recognised taxa in these groups, with these supplemented by more than 200 photographs covering a range of racial and age-related plumage variety. This book is an indispensable addition to the libraries of all birders and ornithologists interested in these sensational birds.

In this dazzling photo essay, Laman and Scholes present gorgeous full-color photographs of all 39 species of the Birds of Paradise that highlight their unique and extraordinary plumage and mating behavior.

Previous edition by Bruce M. Beehler, Thane K. Pratt, and Dale A. Zimmerman.

Drawn from Paradise is David Attenborough’s journey through the cultural history of the birds of paradise, one of the most exquisite and extravagant, colourful and intriguing families of birds.

From the author of The Raj Quartet, a coming-of-age tale about a boy and his childhood friendships with a British diplomat’s daughter and the son of a Raj. The Birds of Paradise is set in India when the British Raj still seemed a paradise, but a paradise that boy comes to recognize as already lost. As Scott weaves together themes of political and personal history, he makes us feel how the protagonist identifies with the beautiful, mysterious India of the Raj. With a keen eye for character and graceful prose, Scott captures the reverie of a youth complete with parades of elephants, garden parties, and the titular birds of paradise, who are stuffed trophies of an Indian prince, kept as decoration in a gilded cage. When the boy is sent away to England, he experiences his exile as both the personal wound of abandonment and the foreshadowing of the Partition. Winner of the Booker Prize Praise for The Birds of Paradise “A rare literary bird, a novel that in a short space recreates a man’s lifetime. Using exotic backgrounds, it manages to say something useful about growing up—a process that only children believe takes place mainly in childhood.” —Time “Scott’s vision is both precise and painterly. Like an engraver crosshatching the illusion of fullness, he selects nuances that will make his characters take on depth and poignancy.” —Jean G. Zorn, New York Times Book Review “One of the best novelists to emerge from Britain’s silver age.” —Robert Towers, Newsweek “Far more even than E. M. Forester, in whose long literary shadow he has to work, Paull Scott is successful in exploring the provinces of the human heart.” —Life