Birds With Spectacular Courtship Displays

The male’s high, sustained note comes from his wings. He rapidly vibrates specialized wing feathers so one scrapes against the ridges of another. Listen for the steady pitch in a recording. The tiny bird on his perch is playing a feather instrument.

Look through the avenue of the bower, from the spot where a female watches. The pale objects just outside are generally smaller close up and larger farther away. From her viewpoint they look more even in size. The male arranges the stage as carefully as he performs on it.

Start with the head shakes. In the weed dance, both birds dive and bring up plant material. They swim toward each other and rise breast to breast with weeds still in their bills. As they settle back down, the head shakes begin again. Watch how closely the two birds match each other.

On a spring display ground, or lek, the males fan their pointed tails and thrust out the white feathers of their chests. A pair of air sacs shows through the feathers as they perform, with a popping sound that gives the strut its rhythm. Watch a few birds at once to see how each holds his own patch of ground.

The famous moonwalk is a rapid series of tiny backward hops along a branch. Watch the male’s feet, then check the speed of the movement against the rest of his body. In a separate aerial display he swerves through the air in an S shape.

From the front, the raised black cape and vivid breast shield turn the male into a bouncing oval. He makes paired wing snaps as he moves around the female. The related Vogelkop lophorina has a crescent-shaped outline and smoother steps. In the comparison photo, the greater lophorina is the one on the right.

Look for bill clacks, bows, and poses with bills pointing into the air. Both birds participate in this pair-bonding ritual. In footage, keep your eye on one bird to see when it takes the lead and when it answers its partner.

Male magnificent frigatebirds perch in low trees and shrubs with their red throat pouches inflated. They swing their heads and clatter their bills as females fly overhead. The pouch gives the bill clacks their drumming resonance. Look at the display from above and the audience’s position starts to make sense.

A male can imitate several birds mobbing a predator at once. Researchers recorded the imitation when a female was leaving his display and during mating. One possible explanation is that a false alarm keeps her close. The timing is remarkable even before you untangle the different calls in the recording.

The male raises the long flank feathers into a skirt as he dances on his cleared court. Keep an eye above the skirt as he turns. The fine plumes on his head are moving too, a much smaller gesture than the one drawing your eye to his body.

The first sound is a nasal peent from the ground. The male takes off after a series of these calls and climbs in a spiral, twittering as air passes through his outer wing feathers. Listen through the descent for his separate string of vocal chirps.

The easiest part of this grassland display to spot is the brief time the bird spends above the grass. During the monsoon breeding season, the male springs up from the ground, flaps rapidly, then drops into cover. In a recording, stay with the spot where he disappears, since the same male can make the jump again and again.

Male Andean cocks-of-the-rock gather at forest display grounds, where they bow, bob, and hop on perches. They can face off in pairs or small groups, one reason to watch an entire branch instead of fixing on a single orange crest.

A stump is enough of a stage. The male raises his rounded wings and opens his bill to show the yellow inside. As the display develops, the wings alternate in front of the female. Look for the jerky head movement that goes with those wing beats.

Watch the wings when this pheasant faces a female. Their long feathers rise into a fan covered with rows of rounded eyespots. From the side the elements read as separate feathers. From the female’s position the arrangement fills much more of the view.

Watch the bottom of the male’s steep dive. He spreads his tail and an outer feather flutters, producing a sudden chirp. The instant when the sound appears is easier to catch than the tail movement, especially at full speed.