22/11/07 - Magnificent Riflebird Film Shoot

Very little footage of the Magnificent Riflebird had ever been shot, certainly none in High Definition, until September 2007 when John Young, his apprentice James Hardy and good friend Bob King journeyed along the dusty roads of Cape York and into the great rainforests of Iron Range National Park.

Having successfully filmed the courtship display of the Superb Lyrebird in July, the JYWE team was again contracted by U.S. production company, Pangolin Pictures, to film the spectacular courtship display of the Magnificent Riflebird in HD (high definition).

by James Hardy

Background Information

The Magnificent Riflebird, Ptiloris magnificus, is the largest of Australia’s Birds of Paradise. It lives in the rainforests of Cape York and is also found in Papua New Guinea. The male is predominantly velvet-black in colour, with a blue iridescent throat and breast. Iridescent feathers are also visible on the crown, back and tail. The males occupy a territory with several display perches located throughout. Display perches may consist of a horizontal branch or vine in a gap in the forest or a large log on the ground. Males use their whistle-like call to attract females to their display perch. A male’s display consists of him facing the female with his bib fully visible and arching his wings over his head one at a time whilst moving his head from side to side and jumping along the perch.

Females are cinnamon-brown and dull white in colour, as are the juveniles. When on a display perch with a male, the female may also display with the male by moving her wings over her head one at a time. Females will often build a nest in Pandanus or in one of the many Mango trees first introduced to Iron Range National Park by gold miners.

This was not the first time that John and Bob had been involved in filming the courtship display of the Magnificent Riflebird. Fifteen years ago the ABC production ‘Birdman of Paradise’ was filmed in the same area of Iron Range National Park and both John and Bob remembered it as an incredibly frustrating time. John had great difficulty in locating the display perches of the birds and once a perch was located, the bird would often fail to display in front of the camera. So, with only 2 weeks to capture all the necessary footage for Pangolin Pictures, everyone was hoping not to see a repeat of that situation.

This was my first trip up the Cape and I had been forewarned of the corrugated roads that make a long day of driving seem even longer. However, the roads had been recently graded and in many sections were smoother than some sealed roads in Brisbane. After leaving Cairns early in the morning, we made our first camp just out of Musgrave where John showed me the nest of a very rare raptor, the Red Goshawk. Unfortunately, the nest was not occupied by a Red Goshawk however it was occupied by a Black-breasted Buzzard which had taken the easy option and displaced the Red Goshawk from its nest.

Black-breasted Buzzard

As a first-timer to Iron Range I was given a variety of advice from John and Bob on how to stay alive in Cape York. Basically, all I had to do was not touch anything, swim in anything, walk on anything (particularly ground where the mine shafts are hidden) or sit on anything. That would be fine if the plants kept their barbs and stinging hairs to themselves, the mites stayed in their dead logs and the snakes didn’t try to drop on your head or put themselves under your foot. Despite all the dangers, this is not a posthumous tale.

We arrived at Iron Range National Park the following day in the afternoon. Much of the rainforest was still badly affected by Cyclone Monica that passed through in 2006. The canopy was sparse and the undergrowth was very dense but there were still plenty of birds about. Soon after arriving at the camp, Riflebirds could be heard calling and by the end of the first day 2 display perches had been located.

Male Magnificent Riflebird

Over the next 2 weeks, 6 perches were located and 4 of them filmed. When compared to the shoot John and Bob were involved with 15 years ago, the September 2007 shoot was incredibly successful. Over 5 hours of footage was captured which included many courtship displays by adult males, one of which resulted in a mating – a behaviour never before filmed in HD. Also recorded was one juvenile courtship display which strangely ended in a mating with a bunch of leaves – another world first. We also filmed some of the other local avian characters of Iron Range including Yellow-billed Kingfishers, Eclectus Parrots, Black Butcherbirds, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Marshall’s Fig-Parrots and Pied Imperial-Pigeons.

Aside from being overwhelmed by all the birds I had never seen before, a definite highlight of the trip was the tree climb into the canopy, 25m above the forest floor. This was the first time I had stood on one of John’s custom built platforms. I’ve always been OK with heights; it’s the falling I’m not so keen on, but after spending some time on the platform, swaying with the tree, I developed the equivalent of sea-legs, tree-legs, and felt rather comfortable. The rainforest canopy is an incredible place to be as you get to see all the happenings above the treetops and get an idea of a bird’s point-of-view.

James Hardy in the canopy

John Young in the canopy

After a very successful shoot with no major dramas, we said goodbye to our small camp and the sights and sounds of Iron Range National Park however there were still more birds to see on the return trip. After ticking off a large number of birds from Iron Range that I had never seen, the list continued to grow as we made our way back to Cairns via Lakefield National Park and the Nifold Plain. Other sightings included: an Australian Bustard – walking along the road; a pair of Papuan Frogmouths; Brolgas; Red Goshawk and Star Finches.

Star Finch

One problem of traveling with John is that you don’t get the sense of how rare an animal is because he has previously done all the hard work of locating them and therefore can often take you directly to them. This was the case with the Red Goshawk and the Star Finch – both rare animals but all I had to do was get out of the car and walk a few metres. But clearly, the benefits outweigh this quibble.

My first trip to the Cape was brilliant - great weather, cooperative birds and another chance to learn from John in the field. I must thank John and all the team at JYWE for making the trip run smoothly and a big thanks to Bob for his company and culinary skills.