bird of paradise

See also: bird-of-paradise

English

Lesser bird-of-paradise Paradisaea minor (1)

Strelitzia reginae (2)

Alternative forms

bird-of-paradise

Etymology

The first Europeans to encounter their skins were the voyagers in Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the Earth. Antonio Pigafetta wrote that "The people told us that those birds came from the terrestrial paradise, and they call them bolon diuata, that is to say, 'birds of God"." (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

"Bolon diuata" appears to be closer to Malay burung (“a bird”) and dewata (“a god”).

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)

Noun

bird of paradise (plural birds of paradise)

Any of various passerine birds of the family Paradisaeidae native to Oceania. In many of the species the breeding plumage of the males is brightly coloured.
Synonym: (obsolete) paradise bird
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 187:
  She had a jonquil silk pelisse, a bonnet of the same colour, with a bird of paradise plume, looking very much like an illuminated butterfly.
A showy tropical flower of the genus Strelitzia, native to South Africa.
Synonyms: bird of paradise flower, bird of paradise plant, crane flower, crane lily

Derived terms

Translations

bird

Catalan: ocell del paradís m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 極樂鳥 / 极乐鸟 (zh) (jílèniǎo), 天堂鳥 / 天堂鸟 (tiāntángniǎo), 風鳥 / 风鸟 (zh) (fēngniǎo)
Czech: rajka (cs) f
Danish: paradisfugl c
Dutch: paradijsvogel (nl) m
Finnish: paratiisilintu
French: paradisier (fr) m, oiseau de paradis (fr) m
Galician: ave do paraíso (gl) f
German: Paradiesvogel (de) m
Indonesian: cenderawasih (id)
Irish: éan parthais m
Italian: paradisea (it) f
Japanese: 風鳥 (ja) (ふうちょう, fūchō), 極楽鳥 (ja) (ごくらくちょう, gokuraku-chō)
Kala Lagaw Ya: kakayam
Kazakh: жұмақ құсы (jumaq qusı)
Macedonian: ра́јска пти́ца f (rájska ptíca)
Malay: cenderawasih (ms)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: энхжингийн шувуу (enxžingiin šuvuu), диваажингийн шувуу (divaažingiin šuvuu), жаргалант шувуу (žargalant šuvuu) (China)

Mongolian script: ᠡᠩᠬᠡᠵᠢᠨ ᠦᠨ
ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠤ (engkeǰin-ün sibaɣu), ᠳ᠋ᠸᠠᠪᠠᠵᠠᠨ ᠦᠨ
ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠤ (dwabaǰan-ün sibaɣu), ᠵᠢᠷᠭᠠᠯᠠᠩᠲᠤ
ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠤ (ǰirɣalangtu sibaɣu)
Navajo: tsídii bitʼaʼ hózhóón
Norwegian:
Bokmål: paradisfugl m

Nynorsk: paradisfugl m
Polish: rajski ptak m, cudowronka f
Portuguese: ave-do-paraíso f
Romanian: pasărea paradisului f
Russian: ра́йская пти́ца f (rájskaja ptíca)
Spanish: ave del paraíso m
Swedish: paradisfågel c
Tagalog: ibon ng paraiso
Tok Pisin: kumul
Tolai: kumul (specifically Raggiana bird-of-paradise)
Turkish: cennet kuşu (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: جنت قوشی (cennet kuşu)
Vietnamese: chim thiên đường (𪀄天堂)
Volapük: paradit (vo)

flower

Catalan: flor d'ocell f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鶴望蘭 / 鹤望兰 (hèwànglán), 天堂鳥花 / 天堂鸟花 (tiāntángniǎo-huā)
Czech: strelicie f
Finnish: kolibrikukka (fi)
Galician: ave do paraíso (gl) f
German: Paradiesvogelblume f, Strelitzie f
Japanese: 極楽鳥花 (gokurakuchō-ka), ストレリチア (sutorerichia), バードオブパラダイス (bādo obu paradaisu)
Kazakh: стрелиция (streliycıya)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: диваажингийн шувуу (divaažingiin šuvuu)

Mongolian script: ᠳ᠋ᠸᠠᠪᠠᠵᠠᠨ ᠦᠨ
ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠤ (dwabaǰan-ün sibaɣu)
Portuguese: estrelítzia f
Romanian: pasărea paradisului f
Russian: стрели́ция f (strelícija), стрели́тция f (strelítcija)
Spanish: ave del paraíso m
Vietnamese: thiên điểu (天鳥), chim thiên đường