Красная шилоклювая райская птица / Black Sicklebill / Epimachus fastosus

Explore more at Black Sicklebills are elegant, slender birds with long bills and tails. But that all changes when a female comes by. The male transforms into a horizontal comet shape on his display perch. He doesn’t use his wings to do this; he uses flank feathers. The comet shape is accentuated by a narrow blue band of iridescence created when those flank feathers line up precisely. Filmed and photographed by Tim Laman.