These Barrow's goldeneyes were mating on a pond in the Merritt area.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Loekie Vanderwal
April 12, 2024 - 6:00 AM
It's spring and that means means mating season in the bird world.
Many wild male birds are dancing, calling and strutting their stuff to attract females to mate with.
Sometimes it is a matter of a fancy flash of feathers while at other times it becomes a full-on claws out fight for territory.
Ducks have fascinating mating rituals that combine courtship displays and vocalizations. The males show off their vibrant feathers, bob their heads and make unique calls and the females gesture back or keep searching for a partner, according to BirdHelpful.com.
Males produce deeper, rhythmic quacks to signal their interest while females may emit a series of quacks in response. For some species of ducks, the males do water dances to catch a female's eye, repeatedly dipping their bills into the water to make ripples.
Spotted near Kamloops, mallard drakes showcase a glossy green head and white neck ring that is irresistible to females.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh
Grouse put on stunning courtship displays in the spring with leaps and glides and vocalizations. Five species of grassland grouse in North America gather in groups called leks on open areas of ground, where the males perform for the females, according to All About Birds.
Sharp-tailed grouse fight each other for territory and breeding rights, and when they dance, they spread their wings, lower their head and point their tails upward. They will inflate their throat sacs, rattle their tails and utter a variety of sounds.
A male sharp-tailed grouse near Kamloops points his tail upward as part of a mating ritual.
Image Credit: SUBMTTED/ Valerie Walsh
Male mountain bluebirds migrate north before the females to search out good nesting sites in cavities in trees, bird houses or nooks and crannies of machinery in order to win one over. He will sing to passing females and wave his wings or go in and out of the nesting site over and over, according to Bluebird Trails.
Sometimes male bluebirds offer pieces of food or nesting material to the females, or preen a potential mate.
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The female will inspect the nesting site and territory and if she approves will enter the nest site.
Wildlife mating rituals can be fascinating to watch, if you have any photos of mating rituals in your neighbourhood, please send them to news@infonews.ca.
A male mountain bluebird inspects the inside of a pipe near Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Lyn MacDonald
A male mountain birds peers down a pipe in Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Lyn MacDonald
Male wood ducks have fancy, vibrant plumage to attract females in the spring.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Lyn MacDonald
A sharp-tailed grouse does a display to attract a female at a lek near Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh
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