Laura Erickson's For the Birds

I’ve never seen this or any other bird of paradise. But this is in the Guinness Book of World Records:

Curl-crested Manucode: Heaviest bird of paradise. The heaviest species of bird of paradise is the curl-crested manucode Manucodia comrii, which weighs up to 450 g. Native to Papua New Guinea, it occurs on the Trobiand Islands and on various islands in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago, but despite limited geographical distribution it is quite common and is categorized by the IUCN as being of “Least Concern”. Unlike the more famous, extravagantly plumed, multicoloured bird of paradise species, the curl-crested manucode is predominantly glossy black, dark purple and dark blue in colour.

There are several species of manucode, and they derive their name from the mythical manucodiata or “bird of God” – an ethereal footless bird that was once believed to spend its entire life in flight, imbibing nothing but dew and nectar, and sinking down to the earth only at the moment of death. This erroneous belief was inspired by the first observations made by visiting European travellers to New Guinea of preserved bird of paradise skins there, the local people traditionally removing these birds’ legs when preserving their plumed skins.