It is difficult to choose just one favorite bird from an entire year of amazing highlights, but one that sticks out for me was Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise. While on the Remote West Papuan Islands cruise in Indonesia, we departed our liveaboard to reach Waigeo Island well before dawn, and made our way to the blinds under the cloak of darkness. We heard the bird before we could see him; his loud, emphatic whistles echoing across the forest. Suddenly, he appeared right in front of us! Despite the still dim light, we could make out his brilliant blue, featherless head, his blood-red back and iridescent tail streamers. Over the course of the next two hours, we watched him display to females, clean his court, and sing, as if we were in the middle of a documentary. It wasn’t a surprise that this species is often named the “best bird in the world”. My favorite part was observing the young males perched nearby, intently watching the adult as he displayed to the female using a variety of complex display movements, flaring his beaming green breast shield, and opening his mouth to expose the bright green mouth lining. Evidently, it takes a lot of time and practice to learn the moves!