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• bird of paradise
  bird of paradise

  noun

  any of several passerine birds of the family Paradisaeidae, of New Guinea and adjacent islands, the males of which have ornate, colorful plumage.
• bird-of-paradise
  bird-of-paradise

  noun

  any of several plants of the genus Strelitzia, native to southern Africa, especially S. reginae, having a large, showy orange and blue inflorescence.
• Bird of Paradise
  Bird of Paradise

  noun

  the constellation Apus.

bird of paradise

¹ American  

noun

1. any of several passerine birds of the family Paradisaeidae, of New Guinea and adjacent islands, the males of which have ornate, colorful plumage.

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bird-of-paradise ² American  

[burd-uhv-par-uh-dahys, -dahyz] / ˈbɜrd əvˈpær əˌdaɪs, -ˌdaɪz /

noun

• birds-of-paradise
  plural

1. Also called bird-of-paradise flower.  any of several plants of the genus Strelitzia, native to southern Africa, especially S. reginae, having a large, showy orange and blue inflorescence.

2. a small tree or shrub, Caesalpinia (Poinciana ) gilliesii, native to South America, having featherlike leaves and showy yellow flowers with red stamens.

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Bird of Paradise ³ American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. the constellation Apus.

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bird of paradise British  

noun

1. any songbird of the family Paradisaeidae of New Guinea and neighbouring regions, the males of which have brilliantly coloured ornate plumage

2. any of various banana-like plants of the genus Strelitzia , esp S. reginae , that are native to tropical southern Africa and South America and have purple bracts and large orange or yellow flowers resembling birds' heads: family Strelitziaceae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• birds-of-paradise
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bird of paradise¹

First recorded in 1600–10

Origin of bird-of-paradise²

First recorded in 1880–85

Origin of Bird of Paradise³

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bird of paradise bird-of-paradise Bird of Paradise birds-of-paradise

“And I’m getting smiles in response” — his eucalyptus, mulberries and bird of paradise appreciating him in the afterlife.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2024

Over the weekend, a middle school teacher, Kahealani David, 41, and her 12-year-old daughter, Vaihere, brought bird of paradise flowers as an offering to leave on the cooled lava from previous eruptions.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

The only decorations were a few plants he’d picked up at Trader Joe’s — a bird of paradise, two money trees — along with a white board that was blank as the decor.

From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2022

I love the bird of paradise as an outdoor plant and as an indoor plant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2021

She is plucking her bird of paradise of its dead branches, leaning around the plant every time she hears a car.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

If you’re lucky, your bird-of-paradise may give you the rare Seattle gift of a flower by summer’s end.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023

But on examining a black feather from a bird-of-paradise under a microscope, “I almost fell out of my chair.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2019

It wasn’t a photo of a bird-of-paradise or a puffin.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 24, 2019

But in a new paper in the journal PeerJ , ornithologist Edwin Scholes and photographer Tim Laman detail a new addition: the Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise.

From National Geographic ● Apr. 18, 2018

So does Mrs. Buscarlet, who is radiant in pink satin and a bird-of-paradise as a crown.

From Molly Bawn by Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

This Bird of Paradise unisex robe is billed as a scene stealer, and it’s easy to see why.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.

From US News ● Jun. 29, 2015

His novelty songs, including his biggest hit “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” about good and bad luck, earned him a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 3, 2015

To understand why he was such an extraordinary figure, just read The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise, a Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and Nature.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 11, 2013

The women checked into the Bird of Paradise Motel across from the pueblo-style building that housed the Lovelace Clinic on Gibson Boulevard.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson

Think of the bright elastic throats of anole lizards, the Fabergé abdomens of peacock spiders and the curling, iridescent, ludicrously long feathers of birds-of-paradise.

From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2019

In 2004, Cornell University scientist Edwin Scholes and National Geographic photographer Tim Laman set out to complete the first comprehensive study of all birds-of-paradise.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 31, 2013

Found only in New Guinea and parts of Australia, birds-of-paradise are a case study in the power of evolution.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 31, 2013

As for the future, Laman and Scholes plan to keep up their birds-of-paradise investigations, especially their documentation of courtship displays that they haven’t yet been able to record in full.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2013

Most of it was hidden behind palms and blooming birds-of-paradise.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman