A Couple of Red Bird of Paradise

This is the drawing of A Couple of Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra). I often watch these beautiful birds when I guide tourists on a hiking and birding tour in Waigeo island of Raja Ampat. The drawing is now available as prints on various products of redbubble such as t-shirt, mugs, iPhone case, pillows, and etc. Please, have a look at this link: Bird of Paradise Art

Red Bird of Paradise

I made the drawing using Autodesk Sketchbook. In real world, most often, there are several male birds that dance in the top branches of a tree. They compete to win the female Red Bird of Paradise for mating. The courtship dance performance usually occurs in the mornings at 06.00 to 09.00 and in the afternoons from 15.00 to 17.30.
In addition to Red Bird of Paradise, we also see other tropical birds such as Beautiful Fruit Dove, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Yellow-faced Myna, Hooded Butcherbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Beach Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher and a lot more.
Participants of the tour need to bring binoculars in order to watch them. A powerful spotting scope made by Leica, Nikon, or Swarovski can greatly enhance the birding experience. I personally use Visionking roof prism 10×42mm binoculars. They are not the best but good enough for watching birds and other things in distant trees.

10x42 mm Visionking binoculars

For taking pictures, I recommend D-SLR camera with Tamron G2 or Sigma Sport 150-600mm lenses. Bridge camera such as Nikon P1000, Nikon P900, or Canon SX60HS can also produce good quality photos.
If you are interested in taking a birdwatching tour or sketch tour with me in Raja Ampat, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by text message to: +6281332245180.