Valentine’s Day isn’t until Feb. 14 but birds are following their own calendar, one driven by biology and not Hallmark cards. Pat Maher, who lives on the edge of Pigeon Creek No. 2 in Everett, got a glimpse of birds feeling a bit frisky.
“There were five flickers, two or three of them jousting. One was pecking at another. Two were bouncing chests together. Then one did what flickers do, mounted a female, and then they all flew off,” Maher said.
Northern flickers are usually solitary birds. If a male and female are engaging in head-bobbing, bill-touching, wing-spreading and vocalization, it’s courting.
If two or three males are doing the same, it’s a disagreement over a female or territory. Males may confront each other in the air, on the ground or on a branch with weaving and ducking, bill-pointing and chest-poking.
There are no avian dating sites so they depend on different approaches: colorful plumage, vocalization, sweet dance moves, displays, preening, gifts and sometimes aggression.
Females make decisions on what they see and hear to determine if a male is acceptable. A male might win the race if he’s the strongest vocalist, performs the best aerobatics, has the most attractive plumage, or can best manipulate parts of his body.
Male frigatebirds, for instance, attract the opposite sex by inflating red pouches. A male hummingbird will puff out his chest so the light will reflect off his iridescent feathers. For some, having a body part that requires no effort can be a winner: female barn swallows seem to like males with the longest tails.
Sandhill cranes have one of the more energetic approaches to courtship, and perform close enough to the female that she can’t miss his strong points. The male leaps up and down while extending his wings, shaking his tail feathers and making other moves. The female probably will act unimpressed. The tide is turned, though, when a pair vocalizes together, throwing back their heads and singing a duet.
Grebes’ courtship (video at top) is on water. It’s an exhibition you won’t forget. Two grebes rise out of the water and race across the surface, flapping their short wings, mimicking each other’s movements in a side-by-side ballet.
Seabirds, such as albatrosses and boobies, depend on complex dances with displays and vocalizations, including sky pointing with their bills, necks outstretched; wing spreading and, in the case of red-footed boobies, making sure the female sees its bright feet.
In some species, males might offer food, indicating it can provide for the chicks. Some attract females with their building skills, creating and defending a nest as part of the courtship.
Male bowerbirds build a bower, usually a hut-like structure of twigs. He spends days in decoration mode, bringing dozens or even hundreds of objects.
Then the male spends considerably time arranging his offerings, sometimes by color or shape, sometimes by size, all to catch the eye of a female on her rounds of competing males. She also considers his dancing style.
As courtship goes, the flickers’ efforts are pretty pedestrian.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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