What would you do to impress a girl who you like very much? Dance, Sing or wear nice cloths when you meet her?
Well you will be surprised to know that birds also do the same!
They go through elaborate routines when choosing their partners to have chicks with. This is called as courtship display. It can be
1) having colorful feathers
2) singing melodious tunes, sometimes continiously for a long time!
3) acrobatic flying
etc.,
Courtship Display
Here you can see the Red-rumped Swallows doing such a courtship dance in the air.
First, the male and female bird sit on a wire and get close to each other. Then, they excitedly fly high, in the air doing fantastic acrobatic stunts together for several seconds. When tired, they sit on a wire, making eye contact and slowly get closer. They nuzzle each other before taking off again to do another set of flying dance. This can go on for several minutes.
This type of behaviour is thought to enable the female bird to find the most healthy mate. It will help the pair have healthy chicks which can survive in the world.
Other interesting courtship displays which you may have witnessed are the dance of the peapock with all its colorful feathers opened like a fan, the long and loud “koooovuu…koooovuuu..” cries of the Koel.
Further reading
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