Animals with Truly Weird Courtship Rituals

[Claire.]

Strange Love: 10 Animals with Truly Weird Courtship Rituals

On Valentine's Day, lovers who are eager to woo their partners show their affection with traditional gifts of red roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, or with romantic dinners at fancy restaurants. There's usually some effort involved, but pulling off a memorable Valentine's Day is easier — and generally safer — than some of the courtship rituals performed by other animal species.

For most animals, wooing comes with heightened personal risk. A male's showy displays, while attracting a female's attention, could also attract nearby predators, and fights between male rivals can also result in a date night with a body count. In some cases, winning a cannibalistic female's affections places the male at the top of the post-coital menu.

Many of the courting behaviors practiced by animals may seem strange to us, but as peculiar and risky as they are, they work just fine for their intended audiences. Here are a few examples of unusual and extreme courtship rituals in the animal kingdom.

Read more: Live Science

[SHaYap]

Ya gotta give it to the birds ...

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~ The Great Argus [00.02:20]

 

 

 

~ Birds of Paradise [00.02:48]

[Claire.]

1 minute ago, third_eye said:

Ya gotta give it to the birds ...

Those are great little videos, thanks for posting them. I love birds. They're such little characters.

[SHaYap]

9 minutes ago, Claire. said:

Those are great little videos, thanks for posting them. I love birds. They're such little characters.

Biggest hearts in the animal kingdom ... proportionately and ratio wise ... the naturalists used to scoff at the local's claims of the birds being lifelong mates ...

Get the BBC Planet Earth Documentary ... its well worth the watch ... some of it never before seen or caught on camera until the last ten or fifteen years ...

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One of my local favorites ...

 

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The female is sealed inside. The slit is about a half inch wide: wide enough to pass food through but narrow enough to seal out potential predators such monkeys raptors and other predators that feed on eggs and young birds. If a snake tries to slither the female inside can fight it off with her bill. The sealed nests also act as a chastity belt.

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The female of small species lay up to six eggs and incubates them for 25 days. The females of large species lays two eggs and incubates them for 45 days. During this time and after the chicks are born the male is responsible for supplying food. After the chicks have hatched the male may make as many as 70 feeding trips a day, bringing the female and the chicks geckos, seeds, insects, frogs slugs, berries and occasionally snakes. The males of some large forest species swallow fruits and regurgitate them one at a time to the female.

 

 

 

• facts and details link

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Edited February 14, 2017 by third_eye
in bold ... time flies ...