Male Bowerbirds have
fascinated scientists with their complex courting behavior.
Male Bowerbirds are
accomplished avian architects.
They are renowned for building an elaborate structure, called a bower,
on the forest floor made from twigs, leaves, and moss. In order to attract the females, a male
Bowerbird will decorate the bower with colorful objects like flowers, leaves,
and berries. They will also adorn
the bower with pebbles, dead insects, fruits, nuts, shells, rocks, even trash
and deer dung!
Bower of a
Satin bowerbird, decorated with many blue objects.
There are twenty species
of Bowerbirds. They range in size
from 8.7 inches to 16 inches tall.
Ten species are native to New Guinea, eight native to Australia and two
found in both. Their range is
mainly throughout the tropical areas of New Guinea and northern Australia;
however a few species range into central, western and southeastern Australia. There is a group in the Bowerbirds --
four catbirds of the genus Ailuroedus -- that do not build bowers and that are
monogamous.
As for the rest, males
will spend 9-10 months of the year regularly working on, improving, and
rearranging their creations. The
bowers are not nests. They are
essentially seduction chambers designed to attract one or more females to
mate. A female will arrive to
inspect the bower and the male will then strut his stuff and sing. He may even carry around one of his
colorful shiny decorations. If she
chooses him, they will mate and she will fly off to build her nest nearby,
leaving the male to try and seduce more females. Click here
to see a video where Vogelkop Bowerbird males decorate their bowers to impress
females.
Each species of Bowerbird
builds its own shape of bower and prefers different decorations.
Macgregor's Bowerbirds in
New Guinea may spend weeks erecting, and years perfecting, a "maypole" bower up to seven feet high atop a ring of moss.
Female Satin Bowerbird - what male could resist those blue eyes?
Satin bowerbirds “paint”
the walls of their bowers with chewed berries, plants or charcoal. Their favorite color decoration is
blue. They will collect blue
feathers, berries, flowers, and trash like bottle caps and straws. Maybe it’s in order to compliment the
females pretty blue eyes!
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