Erotic dancing Flame Bowerbird Species - Sericulus aureus Common name - Flame bowerbird Bowerbirds are one of natures magnificent specimens of birds. Male bowerbirds must be one of the most romantic too especially when it comes to dancing. Whats the story behind the dance though? The inexperienced, female bowerbird judges a male by the manner in which he decorates his bachelor pad. Once shes aged and mated a few times, this affinity for a swanky domicile fades, and she then relies on courtship routine—a vigorous song and dance—to select the most worthy suitor. Darwin noticed that females are attracted to fancy males with lavish traits that appealed to the ear and eye: bright feathers, long tails, intricate songs, and complex dances. But little research has investigated how the female weighs these fancy traits against one another. Not all females find the same trait attractive, its believed males have evolved complex mating rituals and a diverse collection of [fancy] traits to appeal to as many females as possible. The best males will have it all. The top male bowerbirds have what might be called artistic talent and vigorous courtship routines. Until recently people assumed that all females of a particular species preferred the same traits. However this is not true. Male bowerbirds are famous for their courtship rituals. They carefully decorate their bowers—U-shaped platforms built from twigs and grass—with strictly blue objects like berries and flowers, and even bottle caps and string, to attract prospective mates. When a female pays a visit, she crouches in the bower and lets the male strut his stuff. He embarks on a frenetic physical display dubbed the buzz-wing-flip—an elaborate dance during which he fluffs up his feathers, produces buzzing vocalizations, and runs back and forth. The male performs this maniacal dance four times. Once hes finished, the female is off to the next bower, reserving judgment until shes sampled more performances. It was suspected that young females are frequently startled by the males spirited song and dance. younger females use different indicators to size up a male—perhaps the bower with its blue ornaments. Blue objects are rare in the bowerbird environment, and a male whose bower is adorned with many is deemed superior, because it proves he is able to acquire and retain these items in the face of competition from other males. iucnredlist.org/details/22703679/0 Scientists augmented a bowerbird groups environment with blue tiles and plastic strands and left another group untouched. Males from the blue-item-rich group quickly incorporated the blue decorations into their bowers. Using video cameras, the researchers observed females at each of the three stages of courtship. The first step in the mate search involves visiting a bower while the male is absent. Males with poorly constructed or asymmetric bowers or a haphazard arrangement of blue items are generally less successful at this stage. Females impressed by the bower generally return for stage two—the buzz-wing-flip. After the performance the females leave for about a week to build a nest. They return for stage three, where they review encore performances from only the most promising candidates. Once theyve narrowed their search to one, they mate. Coleman discovered that in the absence of a male, all females, regardless of age, were more impressed by the augmented bowers and returned to these sites to view the male. Read more here sciencemag.org/content/335/6066/335.abstract Watch this fantastic video hereto. youtu.be/wCzZj21Gs4U
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 02:20:01 +0000
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