Courtship Variety
By Dave Hanks
You are probably aware of some common bird courtship rituals – such as a male feeding a female, or the male and female preening each other; the cooing of doves, and the singing rituals of many other bird species. Grouse and turkeys display by strutting. Some mammals appear to be fighting, but it is only the male and female rough-housing – which gets their hormones flowing.
Other species have some unique courtship methods. Spiders are especially unique. The Australian Red-Back male is much smaller than the female. The female requires the male to do an elaborate dance for over an hour to two hours. During the dance, the male connects his web to her web. He then taps a drum-like rhythm on her abdomen. If he stops too soon, she will bite his head off – which she does anyway, after mating.
Rhino courtship is called “Bluff and Bluster”. When in estrus, the female urinates on dung piles to lure a male on. The male will scatter these piles in an attempt to keep other males away. The bull then snorts and swings his head side to side and runs from the female. Afterwards, the pair will then snort and spar, with the female working the male over vigorously. The couple will stay together for several days or up to several weeks.
The Leaf-Nosed Bat will find an opening in the rock of a cave that is narrow enough to only allow one other to enter, thus keeping other males out. He will call and flap his wings to entice any available female. If one enters his little abode, he wraps his wings around her and nuzzles her. If she doesn’t fly off, they will mate.
A favorite bird of mine is the COMMON SNIPE (pictured). I like him, not only for his looks, but for his “winnowing” display that can be heard on a spring morning over a meadow. He gains altitude and then descends in a spiral pattern. The air rushing through his wings makes sounds like the bleating of a goat. In many languages he is known as the flying goat. He will, also, make shallow dives to produce a “drumming” sound with his tail. Such a repertoire to go through in order to attract female attention!
(Resting after the morning's aerial displays)
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