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Vogelkop bowerbird nest, Minggre, Arfak Mountains, Papua This is the 3rd bower of the Vogelkop Bowerbird that we found. Wherever the species is found, there will usually be multiple of these temples within a calling distance, so that the female has options to pick the best gardener. This particular bower looks in progress or the male is a minimalist.<br /> <br /> 2nd bower:<br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157452/vogelkop_bowerbird_nest_minggre_arfak_mountains_papua.html" title="Vogelkop bowerbird nest, Minggre, Arfak Mountains, Papua"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/157452_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1769040010&Signature=mOBYqx6FHDZ8fVXXHa3zE2gAank%3D" width="200" height="150" alt="Vogelkop bowerbird nest, Minggre, Arfak Mountains, Papua https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157242/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_temple_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> Here&#039;s a 2nd Vogelkop Bowerbird bower that we found. This one is deeper inside the forest so its display area consists of natural items only, instead of plastic. Items include orange fungi, an orange fruit, beetle shields, dark/rotten fruits and more. This bower is possibly abandoned, we never saw any activity around it. Arfak Mountains,Australia (continent),Geotagged,Indonesia,Minggre,New Guinea,Papua,Papua 2023,Spring,Vogelkop,West Papua,Western New Guinea" /></a></figure><br /> 1st bower:<br /> <br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157242/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_temple_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html" title="Vogelkop bowerbird - temple design, Minggre, Arfak Mountains"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/157242_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1769040010&Signature=%2B6zqUi8hgYlDAtFF6%2F9eV4Atodc%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Vogelkop bowerbird - temple design, Minggre, Arfak Mountains https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157240/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_gardening_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157241/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_perched_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157243/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_overseeing_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157242/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_temple_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> I&#039;m codifying this as the &quot;fake news&quot; bird. As I&#039;ve shared footage of this bird to friends and family before, their initial response is disbelief. As in, &quot;this has to be fake&quot;.<br /> <br /> The Vogelkop Bowerbird is nature&#039;s greatest seducer. The male is visually unremarkable but compensates for it in three spectacular ways:<br /> <br /> 1. He&#039;s a vocalist that can accurately mimic any sound he hears. Other birds, chainsaws, horses, children playing, anything.<br /> <br /> 2. He&#039;s an architect. The temple roof structure is often ignored because the items in front of it grab all attention, yet this structure alone takes him years to build. It is very robust and can withstand heavy rain. Not that this matters because it&#039;s not actually used. The bird doesn&#039;t live or sleep in the structure.<br /> <br /> 3. He&#039;s a designer. Whilst the temple roofs are similar between individual males, the decorative items in front of it are not. Each bird picks different items, colors, groupings and placements to appeal to the female. Items commonly include fruits, shiny beetles, fungi, and human-made items like plastic. In this case there&#039;s lots of plastic because we&#039;re close to a village. <br /> <br /> Remarkably, the male seems to have a design plan in its head down to the smallest detail. Any disturbance of already placed items is immediately corrected. <br /> <br /> And if that&#039;s not enough, they know fashion and thus have culture. They have an understanding of items being rare and particularly impressive. Other males detect the innovation and will try to steal the item whilst the owner is away to feed. Thus, what scores with females is not fixed, it is ever-evolving.<br /> <br /> This bird has a very particular and small distribution, but where it appears, there are typical several males around. <br /> <br /> I highly encourage you to watch the video:<br /> <br /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zmfTr2d4c Amblyornis inornata,Arfak Mountains,Australia (continent),Geotagged,Indonesia,Minggre,New Guinea,Papua,Papua 2023,Spring,Vogelkop,Vogelkop bowerbird,West Papua,Western New Guinea" /></a></figure> Arfak Mountains,Australia (continent),Geotagged,Indonesia,Minggre,New Guinea,Papua,Papua 2023,Spring,Vogelkop,West Papua,Western New Guinea Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

Vogelkop bowerbird nest, Minggre, Arfak Mountains, Papua

This is the 3rd bower of the Vogelkop Bowerbird that we found. Wherever the species is found, there will usually be multiple of these temples within a calling distance, so that the female has options to pick the best gardener. This particular bower looks in progress or the male is a minimalist.

2nd bower:

Vogelkop bowerbird nest, Minggre, Arfak Mountains, Papua https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157242/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_temple_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> Here's a 2nd Vogelkop Bowerbird bower that we found. This one is deeper inside the forest so its display area consists of natural items only, instead of plastic. Items include orange fungi, an orange fruit, beetle shields, dark/rotten fruits and more. This bower is possibly abandoned, we never saw any activity around it. Arfak Mountains,Australia (continent),Geotagged,Indonesia,Minggre,New Guinea,Papua,Papua 2023,Spring,Vogelkop,West Papua,Western New Guinea

1st bower:

Vogelkop bowerbird - temple design, Minggre, Arfak Mountains https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157240/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_gardening_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157241/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_perched_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157243/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_overseeing_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/157242/vogelkop_bowerbird_-_temple_design_minggre_arfak_mountains.html<br /> I'm codifying this as the "fake news" bird. As I've shared footage of this bird to friends and family before, their initial response is disbelief. As in, "this has to be fake".<br /> <br /> The Vogelkop Bowerbird is nature's greatest seducer. The male is visually unremarkable but compensates for it in three spectacular ways:<br /> <br /> 1. He's a vocalist that can accurately mimic any sound he hears. Other birds, chainsaws, horses, children playing, anything.<br /> <br /> 2. He's an architect. The temple roof structure is often ignored because the items in front of it grab all attention, yet this structure alone takes him years to build. It is very robust and can withstand heavy rain. Not that this matters because it's not actually used. The bird doesn't live or sleep in the structure.<br /> <br /> 3. He's a designer. Whilst the temple roofs are similar between individual males, the decorative items in front of it are not. Each bird picks different items, colors, groupings and placements to appeal to the female. Items commonly include fruits, shiny beetles, fungi, and human-made items like plastic. In this case there's lots of plastic because we're close to a village. <br /> <br /> Remarkably, the male seems to have a design plan in its head down to the smallest detail. Any disturbance of already placed items is immediately corrected. <br /> <br /> And if that's not enough, they know fashion and thus have culture. They have an understanding of items being rare and particularly impressive. Other males detect the innovation and will try to steal the item whilst the owner is away to feed. Thus, what scores with females is not fixed, it is ever-evolving.<br /> <br /> This bird has a very particular and small distribution, but where it appears, there are typical several males around. <br /> <br /> I highly encourage you to watch the video:<br /> <br /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zmfTr2d4c Amblyornis inornata,Arfak Mountains,Australia (continent),Geotagged,Indonesia,Minggre,New Guinea,Papua,Papua 2023,Spring,Vogelkop,Vogelkop bowerbird,West Papua,Western New Guinea

    comments (2)

  1. View Mike Melton's profile
    Mike Melton
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Very cool. Love the bowerbirds! Posted one year ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      They're hilarious :) Posted one year ago

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By Ferdy Christant

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Uploaded Mar 8, 2024. Captured Oct 20, 2023 09:25 in WW42+VW Minggre, Arfak Mountains Regency, West Papua, Indonesia.
country flag of Indonesia Explore Indonesia 10,769 2,575 0
  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • f/1.8
  • 1/60s
  • ISO800
  • 1.57mm
View light conditions of this photo