Actually, male birds have a large range of options to impress females. Here are the most important ones.

1. Singing

Female birds frequently judge males by the complexity of their singing – complex songs indicate maturity and experience.

2. Displaying and Dancing

By demonstrating complicated or coordinated movements, males can demonstrate their health and good genes to watching females. A demanding display is difficult to fake: only a healthy male can perform it repeatedly without exhausting himself.

3. Using ornamental body parts

This is the “handicap principle”: If a male bird can survive despite having a ridiculously long tail, he is showing that he can afford the costs of the ornament and thus makes a good father.

4. Gift giving and courtship feeding

Chicks need to be fed later – by expecting the male to feed the female, the latter can test his capabilities early (or already benefit from the added nutrition when laying the eggs).

5. Building structures

This does not only include nests (which are frequently built by females anyway) but also structures such as bowers. A good builder demonstrates persistence and skill.

6. Providing territory

Real estate matters – good territory means a good chance for chicks to be fed sufficiently and survive. So, males showing females a good territory are preferred

7. Fighting

Some males of species like grouse fight, with the females watching. Sadly, they do not go much for losers.

8. Chemical signals

Some females choose males depending on their chemical signature – a bit difficult for us humans to understand, but then again, many of us use perfume or deodorants.

9. Plumage Coloration

The intensity of the plumage color says a lot about the health of a male bird – does he get enough good food, is his immune system working well? Some colours are expensive to produce: carotenoid colours depend on diet, while structural colours depend on precise feather development.

So, bird courtship is not simply about being attractive. A male’s song, colours, dances, architecture, territory, and gifts are all advertisements — ways of convincing a female that he is healthy and capable. Very different from humans, you might think, but probably not different at all.

Next week, we will look at the relatively few cases in which the male birds are the choosier ones.

Photo: Bower of a Satin Bowerbird, Lamington National Park, Australia (see item 5)