Courtship Songs of the Birds

Have you ever wondered why the birds that fill the air around us today use their beautiful singing voices? Courtship songs are one of the most common uses for these creatures amazing singing abilities. Different bird species use this singing ability in different ways and some even add other hidden surprises to the mix to complete their courtship ritual. I could write pages upon pages on the mountain of different bird species and their courtship techniques but to save a bit of time I will simply be looking at a few examples. The satin bowerbird, zebra finch and long-tailed manakin show unique approaches to courtship in the avian world.

A male satin bowerbird courts with a female at specialized structures called bowers (Lofredo, 1985). The courtship includes a complex pattern of vocalisations which is followed by a broad-band; mechanical-sounding song is followed by mimicry (Lofredo, 1985). Studies show that the older male birds produce a longer and higher quality vocalisation which leads to females choosing the older males more often over the younger males (Lofredo, 1985).

The zebra finches courtship song is joined by a type of dance as well. This display includes a song which they have learned, as well as movements of their body, head and beak (williams, 2001). Each bird has a different sequence of beak movements but it is said that there is resemblance between the father and sons movements (williams, 2001). It is thought that a father teaches his son his courtship song and dance then the son makes slight changes to it to make the routine recognised as their own (williams, 2001).

Finally the long-tailed manakin, these birds complete their courtship routine in pairs (trainer, 1995). This partnership consists of the dominating alpha male and his beta male (trainer, 1995). The pair complete this performance together in unison in order to attach females to the area (trainer, 1995). This way of courtship ritual allows the female to see how well the male partners with another male, looking for a cooperative long-term partner (trainer, 1995).

The courtship song and dance is only one aspect of the birds life which they use their singing and dancing capabilities. Next week we will explore more into the avian world.

Works Cited

Lofredo, C., 1985. Male courtship vocalisations as cues for mate choice in the satin bowerbird. AUK, Volume 103, pp. 189- 195.

trainer, J., 1995. Singing preformance, frequence matching and courtship sucess of long--tailed manakins. Behaviour ecology scoial biology , Volume 37, pp. 249-254.

williams, H., 2001. Choreography of song, dance and beak movements in the zebra finch. The journal of Experimental biology, Volume 204, pp. 3497 - 3506.