Dancing with the Birds

DANCING WITH THE BIRDS offers a stunning, light-hearted look at the mating habits of colorful male jungle birds in New Guinea and other remote hotbeds of wildlife. Narrator Stephen Fry observes as the Black Sickle Bill and the MacGregor's Bowerbirds almost comically go through their motions. The tone is upbeat and appreciative, and even a little mocking. For example, the choreography of Carola's Parotia, a bird capable of heart-stopping dance moves in nine distinct parts no less, is set to T. Rex's "Cosmic Dancer." Other moves include the unforgettable matador dance, perch bounces, perch pivots, swaying bobs, and the distinctive hop-shake-fluff-shuffle. The twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise, a guy with twelve thin "wire" feathers hanging from his bright yellow rear end, uses all his attributes to magnetize prospective mates. "Female twelve-wired birds like to be flicked across the face by a male's tale," the narrator informs over images of a female enthusiastically pointing her beak right into the buzz of moving "wires." The King-of-Saxony-Bird-of-Paradise has an odd cha cha, and male birds who work in pairs, Lance-tailed Manakins, leap-frog over each other to charm and impress females. Equally entertaining is the fact that generally the females looking on seem far more like skeptical Olympic gymnastics judges than romance-drunk swooners. That's why some of the hardworking males will never mate no matter how hard they try, no matter how strictly they adhere to rituals, and no matter how many hours they practice. As the film informs us, they are nevertheless programmed to persevere.