Love is in the air. The birds, if not the bees, are very much in focus as we count down the days to the annual celebration of romance, Valentine’s Day, on Tuesday.
Birds, in fact, have much to teach us humans about the art of love. Although birds have a markedly different evolutionary past, much of their behaviour shows remarkable parallels with our own. No other lifeform relies on song and dance to the same degree to not only woo partners and form relationships, but to rear offspring.
Across the world birds perform astonishing courtship displays designed to signal their interest in mating. During these lengthy rituals, the male usually begins the courtship, showing off his best assets to females who pass judgment on displays, song and appearance. From these they choose the finest and fittest and most vigorous male.
The spring frenzy of dance and song can sometimes mirror the environment of the human dance hall or disco.
The females standing on the sidelines are looking for not only the most handsome males, but those with the best genes to ensure healthy offspring.
The males, meantime, know the way to a female’s heart is with gifts of food. Not chocolates but food offerings ranging from fish to fruit. This common courtship ritual across many species demonstrates the suitor has hunting and gathering skills and the capacity to provide for the nest when the time comes.
The crested terns we see along the Tasmanian coast know this well enough, so their mating begins with the male offering a fish to the female. This is followed by an elaborate courtship display in which he teases the female with his offer until she displays back. At that point the bond established.
Many birds pair for life. Although an annual courtship ritual to find a partner for a single season might sound hard enough during a lifetime, permanent relationships also require a great deal of work to keep love alive.
Albatrosses have to maintain long-distance relationships. They can be separated for months, even years, at a time and when they meet again at their island nest sites, they go through elaborate displays of strutting, bowing and bill clapping.
Fencing displays by gannets serve a similar purpose To relight their spark, these seabirds stand breast-to-breast with wings spread out and then fence with their bills, calling loudly at the same time.
To look their finest, some species undergo spectacular transformations in plumage, adding extra feathers and colours to attract mates. This plumage transformation applies especially to waders. One wader visiting Australia in the summer months perhaps the most stunning breeding plumage of this group of birds. The appropriately named ruff develops a ring of feathers around its neck which it fluffs out to impress females.
In the Geogian era, he might have been referred to as a dandy.