The bird of paradise is known for its elaborate courtship displays and bright, colorful plumage. These unique birds have evolved fascinating behaviors and adaptations to attract mates and pass on their genes. In this article, we’ll explore the various strategies male birds of paradise use to charm and impress potential female partners.
Displaying Bright Colors
One of the most noticeable features of birds of paradise is their vibrant, striking feathers. Though females of most species are rather drab, the males sport brilliant hues of blue, green, red, orange, yellow, and purple. This coloration serves to attract females visually from a distance.
In particular, the males of certain species, like the King Bird of Paradise and Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, have specialized feathers on their heads and bodies that they can lift and turn to display flashes of color. Females observing these color displays can assess a male’s health, fitness, and genetic quality.
Performing Elaborate Dances
In addition to their bright feathers, male birds of paradise also put on remarkable dancing performances to impress prospective mates. The manakin family of birds of paradise, found in Central and South America, gather on communal display grounds known as leks to showcase their dance moves.
Some examples of their acrobatics include:
- The Red-capped Manakin does quick leaps between branches and makes loud snapping sounds with its wings.
- The Club-winged Manakin rapidly shakes its wings, drumming them against its body like a drum roll.
- The Golden-headed Manakin moves its head back and forth while making high-pitched vocalizations.
By fluttering and flipping about the lek, males demonstrate their fitness, coordination, and health to watching females.
Building Elaborate Bowers
Male bowerbirds construct elaborate bowers, also called bowerbird nests, out of twigs and decorate them with colorful objects to attract a mate. The bower serves as a bachelor pad where the female can visit and observe the male try to entice her.
There are several different types of bowers:
- Satin Bowerbirds make twin tower structures decorated with blue objects like feathers, flowers, and berries.
- Fawn-breasted Bowerbirds create domed hut bowers adorned with flowers, fruit, beetle wings, and parrot feathers.
- Vogelkop Bowerbirds build small avenue or maypole bowers embellished with orchid stems, beetle shells, and butterfly wings.
By decorating with rare, visually interesting objects, males display their skill at collecting to appeal to females.
Emitting Unique Calls
Along with physical displays, male birds of paradise also perform vocal displays featuring unusual sounds, calls, and singing. Their vocal repertoires function tovocally excite potential mates and defend territories.
Some interesting vocalizations include:
- The Paradise Riflebird makes an ascending, whip-crack sound by snapping its wings.
- The Trumpet Manucode has an eerie, trumpet-like vocalization it makes by inflating its throat.
- The King Bird of Paradise makes continuous, laughing kwa-kwa-kwa calls.
- The Black Sicklebill emits far-carrying wheezy cries.
By vocalizing frequently during courtship, males demonstrate the quality of their throat, lungs, and muscles required to produce these bizarre sounds.
Coordination Between Males
One particularly fascinating display strategy used by male birds of paradise is performing highly coordinated courtship dances in groups or pairs. Several males may work together to impress a female watching their perfectly choreographed routine.
Some examples include:
- Male Lawes’ Parotias perform coordinated bouncing and circling in rituals on their display stage.
- Male Wilson’s Birds of Paradise work in pairs and take turns making calls and erecting their specialized flank plumes toward the female.
- Groups of male Magnificent Riflebirds simultaneously lift up their wings to flash their chest shields and race around within their court.
The precise coordination between males reflects their physical condition and teamwork skills.
Offering the Female a Display Perch
Another courting strategy seen in certain birds of paradise species is the male offering the female an attractive perching spot from which to observe his displays. This display perch gives the female a comfortable, unobstructed vantage point.
Examples include:
- The male Black Sicklebill clears a display site on a vertical sapling and calls to females from an adjacent branch.
- The male Huon Astrapia creates a perch by stripping the bottom leaves off a tall, thin tree sapling.
- The male Arfak Astrapia constructs a cushioned platform of twigs in the forest understory for the female.
Building an appealing perch demonstrates the male’s nest construction abilities and commitment to courting the female.
Presenting Ornaments and Decorations
Some birds of paradise take the bower decorating concept even further by ornamenting their bodies with decorations to physically show off in front of females. Males adorn themselves with colorful bits of fruit, flowers, leaves, fungi, or insects to enhance their displays.
For example:
- The Superb Bird of Paradise sticks striking blue orchid flowers and berry sprigs into its head quills.
- The Goldie’s Bird of Paradise wears a “cape” made of iridescent blue and green breast feathers.
- The King of Saxony Bird of Paradise embeds resin-filled fruit fibers into its head feathers like antennae.
Decorating their bodies demonstrates males’ resourcefulness in collecting impression ornaments from the forest.
Dancing in Unison
An intriguing courtship behavior seen in Raggiana Birds of Paradise and some manakin species is males forming tight-knit courts that move, call, and dance in perfect synchrony. A female observing this unified performance is able to assess qualities like stamina, motor coordination, and group cohesion.
Examples of their synchronous dances include:
- Males standing shoulder-to-shoulder shaking their bodies and fanning their wings.
- Males moving in a straight line while bobbing heads in a wave from one end to the other.
- Males circling the court in a seamless, flowing flock.
Performing as a cohesive group demonstrates males’ ability to cooperate with competition.
Conclusion
From colorful plumage to choreographed dances, birds of paradise employ truly astonishing methods to attract mates. The degree of skill, artistry, and collaboration shown by courting males provides females with telling information about male suitability. Successful displays indicate health, fitness, construction ability, resourcefulness, and coordination. By selecting males with the most impressive mating behaviors, female birds of paradise obtain the highest quality partners, ensuring their offspring inherit the best possible genes.