1 00:01:13,407 --> 00:01:16,001 An Indian florican. He's got a problem. 2 00:01:16,167 --> 00:01:18,556 He wants to attract females and mate, 3 00:01:18,727 --> 00:01:22,322 but in tall grass it's not easy to tell them where he is. 4 00:01:44,247 --> 00:01:48,684 He's so anxious to impress females with his strength and fitness as a mate 5 00:01:48,847 --> 00:01:52,442 that he may do this 400 times a day. 6 00:02:07,327 --> 00:02:11,320 There are, of course, other ways of broadcasting such messages 7 00:02:11,487 --> 00:02:13,603 in places where it's difficult to be seen. 8 00:02:22,887 --> 00:02:26,277 A nightingale in an English woodland in spring. 9 00:02:26,447 --> 00:02:30,406 He's recently arrived from his winter quarters in Africa. 10 00:02:30,567 --> 00:02:32,762 (SINGS) 11 00:02:53,087 --> 00:02:55,476 He continues singing into the night, 12 00:02:55,647 --> 00:02:58,480 perhaps because the females who arrive after him 13 00:02:58,647 --> 00:03:03,243 usually travel under cover of darkness and may be passing overhead. 14 00:03:09,407 --> 00:03:11,398 Whales sing, too. 15 00:03:21,287 --> 00:03:25,565 The song of the female right whale travels great distances through the water 16 00:03:25,727 --> 00:03:29,720 and can be heard by other whales at least five miles away. 17 00:03:32,887 --> 00:03:36,004 Her calls also announce that she's ready to mate, 18 00:03:36,167 --> 00:03:42,879 and the males who have gathered around her push and butt one another to get alongside her. 19 00:03:44,767 --> 00:03:47,759 The act of coupling lasts only a few seconds, 20 00:03:47,927 --> 00:03:51,920 so the males have to be ready to seize the chance. 21 00:03:54,927 --> 00:03:56,918 Teasingly, she rolls over, 22 00:03:57,087 --> 00:04:01,797 preventing the jostling males from mating with her just yet. 23 00:04:13,087 --> 00:04:16,079 She is encouraging competition between her suitors. 24 00:04:16,247 --> 00:04:19,717 Males who are bigger and stronger will push rivals out of the way 25 00:04:19,887 --> 00:04:23,004 to lie beside her and mate when she allows it. 26 00:04:23,167 --> 00:04:26,204 That way she achieves the objective of her courtship - 27 00:04:26,367 --> 00:04:28,961 to secure the best father for her calf. 28 00:04:40,327 --> 00:04:43,797 0n the open grasslands of central Asia, the steppes, 29 00:04:43,967 --> 00:04:48,961 lives an animal that issues invitations to prospective partners with a perfume. 30 00:04:54,087 --> 00:04:56,555 The dwarf Siberian hamster. 31 00:04:57,807 --> 00:05:00,446 This little female is about to give birth, 32 00:05:00,607 --> 00:05:03,679 but before she does there is something else she must do. 33 00:05:03,847 --> 00:05:09,240 She marks the vegetation around her burrow with a secretion from beneath her tail. 34 00:05:13,527 --> 00:05:18,521 As the day begins to dawn, she retires below ground to her nest chamber 35 00:05:18,687 --> 00:05:20,962 and there gives birth. 36 00:05:21,127 --> 00:05:25,484 Her half-dozen babies are still very underdeveloped, naked and blind, 37 00:05:25,647 --> 00:05:28,639 for they've only spent 28 days in her womb. 38 00:05:28,807 --> 00:05:34,006 But she's unlikely to live for much longer than a year, and she has no time to waste. 39 00:05:36,127 --> 00:05:39,836 Now she must supply her babies with some milk. 40 00:05:40,007 --> 00:05:43,556 But because this may be her only breeding season, 41 00:05:43,727 --> 00:05:46,764 she's also in a great hurry to mate again. 42 00:05:46,927 --> 00:05:50,886 Her hormones don't allow her to do both things at the same time, 43 00:05:51,047 --> 00:05:55,006 and she has just three hours between delivering the last of her babies 44 00:05:55,167 --> 00:05:57,601 and supplying them with milk. 45 00:05:57,767 --> 00:06:03,683 The effectiveness of that message of perfume that she posted up last night is now crucial. 46 00:06:03,847 --> 00:06:06,759 The wind has spread it all over the steppes, 47 00:06:06,927 --> 00:06:11,842 and males within half a mile in any direction will have detected it. 48 00:06:13,767 --> 00:06:16,839 Here they come, full of excitement. 49 00:06:48,767 --> 00:06:50,837 So once again she couples. 50 00:06:53,287 --> 00:06:55,847 But hamster mating is quite a long business. 51 00:06:56,007 --> 00:06:58,237 0ne copulation is not enough. 52 00:06:58,407 --> 00:07:04,004 The male follows her down into her burrow to make sure none of his rivals outside 53 00:07:04,167 --> 00:07:06,556 manages to displace him. 54 00:07:09,727 --> 00:07:12,525 An hour or so later, he's still with her. 55 00:07:16,167 --> 00:07:19,159 The other males have missed their chance. 56 00:07:28,687 --> 00:07:31,679 While all this has been going on during the night, 57 00:07:31,847 --> 00:07:34,202 other hamsters have been wandering around, 58 00:07:34,367 --> 00:07:37,325 seemingly unaffected by all this excitement. 59 00:07:40,767 --> 00:07:46,478 But why should this little male, within two or three feet of that female's perfumed message, 60 00:07:46,647 --> 00:07:51,721 ignore it when that same message will bring another male from half a mile away? 61 00:07:51,887 --> 00:07:57,598 The fact is that this male, although he looks very like the female, is a different species. 62 00:07:57,767 --> 00:08:02,079 He feeds mainly on insects, she on seeds and grass. 63 00:08:02,247 --> 00:08:04,636 Her message contained two statements: 64 00:08:04,807 --> 00:08:09,597 not only, ''Hurry, I want a mate,'' but also, ''This is who I am.'' 65 00:08:09,767 --> 00:08:13,237 And this little male knew that she was not for him. 66 00:08:14,287 --> 00:08:18,360 And that second part of the message is very important. 67 00:08:18,527 --> 00:08:23,282 It prevents animals from trying to achieve matings that can never be successful. 68 00:08:24,487 --> 00:08:28,446 The more crowded the environment, the plainer these statements must be. 69 00:08:28,607 --> 00:08:34,876 The coral reef has the densest and most varied population of fish of any part of the sea. 70 00:08:36,887 --> 00:08:40,402 Butterfly and angel fish are among the commonest. 71 00:08:40,567 --> 00:08:44,765 There are many closely related species, all with very similar-shaped bodies - 72 00:08:44,927 --> 00:08:46,519 roughly rectangular. 73 00:08:46,687 --> 00:08:52,683 But the colour patterns on these rectangles are as varied as the designs on national flags. 74 00:09:07,807 --> 00:09:12,085 With such clear declarations of identity emblazoned on their bodies, 75 00:09:12,247 --> 00:09:16,126 no one is likely to court an unsuitable partner. 76 00:09:18,887 --> 00:09:21,242 When courtship begins, 77 00:09:21,407 --> 00:09:26,401 individuals must make sure that their identity badges are prominently displayed. 78 00:09:29,447 --> 00:09:33,360 Boobies are ocean-going birds, common throughout the tropics. 79 00:09:33,527 --> 00:09:35,961 There are half a dozen species of them. 80 00:09:36,127 --> 00:09:41,121 Since several kinds may nest on the same island, there could be some confusion. 81 00:09:44,727 --> 00:09:47,480 But this is a blue-footed booby, 82 00:09:47,647 --> 00:09:50,036 and when a male starts to court a female, 83 00:09:50,207 --> 00:09:52,880 he leaves her in no doubt about that. 84 00:09:57,687 --> 00:09:59,678 (H0NKING CALLS) 85 00:10:11,967 --> 00:10:15,755 Bluefoots don't make a proper nest, just a scrape, 86 00:10:15,927 --> 00:10:19,602 but a relic of this nest-making urge remains in their courtship. 87 00:10:19,767 --> 00:10:24,716 How better to indicate your willingness to mate than with a little token nest material 88 00:10:24,887 --> 00:10:28,675 deposited on your partner's attractive blue feet? 89 00:10:49,327 --> 00:10:54,117 The bluefoot's identity badge is permanent - its feet are blue throughout the year - 90 00:10:54,287 --> 00:10:58,280 but other birds only wear their badges during the breeding season. 91 00:10:58,447 --> 00:11:02,645 Male ducks - this is a wood duck - grow new feathers each spring. 92 00:11:02,807 --> 00:11:06,516 During the winter they, like their females, were a plain brown. 93 00:11:06,687 --> 00:11:10,282 A male merganser. His female is also drab. 94 00:11:17,007 --> 00:11:20,204 The female ducks incubate the eggs by themselves, 95 00:11:20,367 --> 00:11:23,677 and a sitting duck needs camouflage. 96 00:11:23,847 --> 00:11:27,123 The males reinforce their costumes with displays. 97 00:11:27,287 --> 00:11:30,916 The smew bobs his head and his female responds invitingly 98 00:11:31,087 --> 00:11:35,080 by vibrating her tail and swimming low in the water. 99 00:11:40,127 --> 00:11:43,676 The golden-eye favours a rather more restrained head-bob, 100 00:11:43,847 --> 00:11:48,841 but that is all his female needs to be convinced that he is the right partner for her. 101 00:11:55,047 --> 00:11:59,325 But how does a duck know what its appropriate mate should look like? 102 00:11:59,487 --> 00:12:03,400 Females know innately, but the males have to learn. 103 00:12:03,567 --> 00:12:06,206 The first moving thing ducklings normally see 104 00:12:06,367 --> 00:12:09,165 as they emerge from the shell is their mother. 105 00:12:09,327 --> 00:12:12,444 This image becomes imprinted in the brain of the ducklings, 106 00:12:12,607 --> 00:12:16,600 and for the next few weeks they will follow it unwaveringly. 107 00:12:19,767 --> 00:12:22,645 The male duckling never forgets the appearance of his mother, 108 00:12:22,807 --> 00:12:29,406 and when a little mallard starts looking for a mate, it's her that he seeks to match. 109 00:12:29,567 --> 00:12:34,083 But this male duckling is not a mallard. He's a young golden-eye. 110 00:12:36,127 --> 00:12:40,723 He hatched from an abandoned egg given to a mallard foster mother. 111 00:12:40,887 --> 00:12:43,196 Though he looks different from the mallards, 112 00:12:43,367 --> 00:12:47,918 he's completely accepted into her family and he follows her wherever she goes. 113 00:12:54,647 --> 00:12:56,638 Next year, if he survives, 114 00:12:56,807 --> 00:13:00,436 he will be in the same predicament as this adult golden-eye. 115 00:13:00,607 --> 00:13:04,600 He, too, was brought up by a mallard foster mother. 116 00:13:04,767 --> 00:13:10,763 The female golden-eye, impressed by his plumage, makes the right signals of acceptance. 117 00:13:12,527 --> 00:13:14,916 Another joins her. 118 00:13:15,087 --> 00:13:17,726 He ignores them both. They're not what he's seeking. 119 00:13:17,887 --> 00:13:22,039 His displays are directed to a female like his foster mother, a female mallard, 120 00:13:22,207 --> 00:13:26,837 and she, alas, finds his signals totally incomprehensible. 121 00:13:30,527 --> 00:13:34,202 But being the right species is not necessarily enough. 122 00:13:34,367 --> 00:13:39,282 An individual male may have to have some extra attraction to offer. 123 00:13:39,447 --> 00:13:44,316 This tree stump, here in the forests of Central America, contains a pool of water, 124 00:13:44,487 --> 00:13:50,244 and that's just what a female damselfly needs, because she can only lay her eggs in water. 125 00:13:50,407 --> 00:13:54,400 So any male that can claim this and drive off rivals 126 00:13:54,567 --> 00:13:57,127 really has something to offer. 127 00:14:00,567 --> 00:14:02,956 This is the biggest of all damselflies, 128 00:14:03,127 --> 00:14:07,405 and the distinctive flight with which the male proclaims his ownership of a pool 129 00:14:07,567 --> 00:14:10,957 has given it the name of helicopter damselfly. 130 00:14:24,647 --> 00:14:27,036 Rival males are chased away. 131 00:14:27,207 --> 00:14:31,644 But a female will be attracted by his display and lay eggs in his pond. 132 00:14:31,807 --> 00:14:36,517 He remains on guard after she's gone and will readily welcome other females, 133 00:14:36,687 --> 00:14:42,956 so that eventually his precious pond, if it's large enough, may contain several larvae. 134 00:14:43,127 --> 00:14:45,322 He is father of them all. 135 00:14:51,567 --> 00:14:55,526 0ther male insects offer other enticements to their females. 136 00:14:55,687 --> 00:15:00,317 Hanging flies in North America. They are hunters. 137 00:15:01,367 --> 00:15:05,155 Flies are their favourite food, if they can get them. 138 00:15:05,327 --> 00:15:07,887 But beetles may have to do. 139 00:15:11,087 --> 00:15:14,443 This male has caught a fly, but he doesn't eat it all. 140 00:15:14,607 --> 00:15:17,201 He uses it as a bait for a female. 141 00:15:17,367 --> 00:15:20,916 To advertise it, he fans his wings and disperses a perfume 142 00:15:21,087 --> 00:15:23,476 released from the tip of his abdomen. 143 00:15:24,367 --> 00:15:26,756 A female approaches. 144 00:15:33,447 --> 00:15:37,565 Had this been a small fly or a beetle, she wouldn't have stayed, 145 00:15:37,727 --> 00:15:44,121 but she approves of this large, juicy one and, as she feasts on it, she allows the male to mate. 146 00:15:51,407 --> 00:15:53,443 But he won't let go of his gift. 147 00:15:53,607 --> 00:15:57,282 Transferring sperm for a hanging fly is a lengthy business, 148 00:15:57,447 --> 00:16:01,759 and it may take him 20 minutes to complete it. 149 00:16:01,927 --> 00:16:05,840 He grips her securely while she continues to feed. 150 00:16:06,007 --> 00:16:08,396 Mating completed, he releases her. 151 00:16:08,567 --> 00:16:12,765 She wants to take the remains of the fly with her, but he wants to keep it, 152 00:16:12,927 --> 00:16:15,316 and a wrestling match starts. 153 00:16:20,567 --> 00:16:25,357 He wins. Even a second-hand meal may attract another female. 154 00:16:32,567 --> 00:16:36,355 And within a minute or so, another female is interested. 155 00:16:40,047 --> 00:16:43,278 Aerobatic skills are what impress tropic birds. 156 00:16:43,447 --> 00:16:47,520 Both male and female will have to catch food at sea for their nesting, 157 00:16:47,687 --> 00:16:51,521 and when adults select partners, both sexes assess each other's merits 158 00:16:51,687 --> 00:16:54,076 as a likely future parent. 159 00:17:00,607 --> 00:17:04,805 At the beginning of the season, large groups display together. 160 00:17:07,007 --> 00:17:10,477 Soon the birds pair off and then, for minutes on end, 161 00:17:10,647 --> 00:17:14,925 again and again, they perform the most elegant pas de deux. 162 00:17:29,927 --> 00:17:33,158 A marsh harrier, seeking to impress his mate, 163 00:17:33,327 --> 00:17:36,876 provides absolute proof of his prowess as a hunter. 164 00:17:37,047 --> 00:17:39,959 She takes his catch from him in mid-air. 165 00:17:47,607 --> 00:17:53,557 He gives an exhibition of slow-speed flying, with legs lowered, over a likely nest site. 166 00:18:07,567 --> 00:18:10,081 The female alone will construct the nest, 167 00:18:10,247 --> 00:18:16,641 but he will collect a great deal of the building material, and he demonstrates his ability to do so. 168 00:18:25,767 --> 00:18:31,717 The pair also display by clasping as they fly not only building material and prey, 169 00:18:31,887 --> 00:18:34,276 but one another. 170 00:18:40,047 --> 00:18:45,041 He will continue to feed her in this way throughout the nesting period. 171 00:18:57,327 --> 00:19:01,445 Termites. The favourite food of the red-backed salamander. 172 00:19:10,087 --> 00:19:15,844 This male has a territory that contains lots of termites, and his droppings provide the evidence. 173 00:19:16,007 --> 00:19:19,602 They are smooth and even compared with these, 174 00:19:19,767 --> 00:19:23,157 deposited by a salamander who's been feeding on ants. 175 00:19:24,927 --> 00:19:26,918 Ants are not nice to eat. 176 00:19:27,087 --> 00:19:29,885 They have indigestible horny coverings to their bodies 177 00:19:30,047 --> 00:19:33,835 and stings loaded with formic acid - not nice at all. 178 00:19:34,007 --> 00:19:39,400 But if that's all there is in your territory, well, they're better than nothing. 179 00:19:48,247 --> 00:19:50,238 A female looking for a mate. 180 00:19:50,407 --> 00:19:57,119 She wants a male with a territory rich in termites, where her young can get a good start in life. 181 00:19:57,287 --> 00:20:00,040 This place is clearly no good. 182 00:20:05,207 --> 00:20:08,199 This, on the other hand, might be better. 183 00:20:17,487 --> 00:20:19,876 She makes quite sure. 184 00:20:23,407 --> 00:20:29,801 Having convinced herself of the quality of this male's territory, she traces him to his burrow. 185 00:20:38,967 --> 00:20:42,277 Here she will mate and leave her eggs. 186 00:20:45,407 --> 00:20:51,039 Moose, in the rutting season, also develop a fixation on excrement. 187 00:20:51,207 --> 00:20:55,644 A bull moose establishes a territory in areas favoured by females. 188 00:21:09,527 --> 00:21:11,916 0ther males have to be kept away. 189 00:21:23,527 --> 00:21:28,078 The male has a special way of encouraging females to mate with him. 190 00:21:28,247 --> 00:21:31,603 Every day, he urinates in special pits. 191 00:21:39,687 --> 00:21:43,839 His urine has a smell that the females find both pleasurable and exciting. 192 00:21:44,007 --> 00:21:47,079 That brings them into sexual receptivity. 193 00:22:11,287 --> 00:22:16,281 They wallow in the pits, drenching themselves in his perfume. 194 00:22:18,087 --> 00:22:20,476 All of the females in the group want a turn, 195 00:22:20,647 --> 00:22:25,004 but the one in occupation is frequently very possessive. 196 00:22:27,287 --> 00:22:32,236 Perfume is also used by this bat to attract and keep a harem. 197 00:22:32,407 --> 00:22:34,796 He is a sac-winged bat in Trinidad 198 00:22:34,967 --> 00:22:40,166 and he establishes a roost for his females on the side of a silk cotton tree. 199 00:22:41,287 --> 00:22:43,676 When a female returns at dawn, 200 00:22:43,847 --> 00:22:48,841 he stretches out his wing to expose a perfumed gland on his elbow. 201 00:22:49,927 --> 00:22:52,839 The females find this smell highly attractive. 202 00:22:53,927 --> 00:22:56,316 He wafts his scent towards them... 203 00:23:00,247 --> 00:23:04,684 ..and then hovers in front of the female so that his perfume surrounds her, 204 00:23:04,847 --> 00:23:09,079 a perfume that stimulates her and binds her to him socially. 205 00:23:19,287 --> 00:23:23,883 These bright flashes and calls are made by another bat. 206 00:23:26,087 --> 00:23:28,078 (CHIRPING CALL) 207 00:23:30,687 --> 00:23:33,724 A male epauletted bat. 208 00:23:33,887 --> 00:23:38,039 The females of this species assess these invitations with care. 209 00:23:38,207 --> 00:23:42,439 Their relationship with a male will be no more than a visit of a few seconds 210 00:23:42,607 --> 00:23:46,361 during which they mate, but which male is it to be? 211 00:23:46,527 --> 00:23:49,485 The males have no extra inducements on offer, 212 00:23:49,647 --> 00:23:54,038 such as rich territories, nest-making skills or even bribes of food, 213 00:23:54,207 --> 00:23:58,200 only their qualities as a father for the female's baby. 214 00:24:01,047 --> 00:24:04,960 The female must select the healthiest and most attractive male 215 00:24:05,127 --> 00:24:08,756 so that her baby has a good chance of inheriting such qualities. 216 00:24:08,927 --> 00:24:13,921 Choosing which he is to be demands a close inspection of the candidates. 217 00:24:18,687 --> 00:24:24,876 The male supports the entreaties proclaimed by his bristling epaulettes with energetic honks, 218 00:24:25,047 --> 00:24:28,801 but serenades can be more beguiling than his. 219 00:24:35,807 --> 00:24:38,196 (RHYTHMIC, MUSICAL CALL) 220 00:24:53,087 --> 00:24:57,478 The lyre bird of Australia produces one of the most varied and glorious 221 00:24:57,647 --> 00:25:00,036 of all animal songs. 222 00:25:07,647 --> 00:25:11,003 Each male maintains several courts in his territory in the bush 223 00:25:11,167 --> 00:25:13,237 on which he sings and dances. 224 00:25:13,407 --> 00:25:16,479 He tours from one to the other and cleans them meticulously 225 00:25:16,647 --> 00:25:19,605 before he starts his performance. 226 00:25:28,327 --> 00:25:30,921 (CHIRPING S0NG) 227 00:25:43,007 --> 00:25:44,998 He's a superb mimic. 228 00:25:45,167 --> 00:25:50,195 An experienced male can sing the songs of nearly all the other birds in his territory. 229 00:25:54,847 --> 00:25:57,725 (SQUAWKING) 230 00:25:57,887 --> 00:26:02,722 That's a very accurate imitation of the laugh of the kookaburra. 231 00:26:19,207 --> 00:26:24,361 The males, like the male epauletted bats, take on no parental duties. 232 00:26:24,527 --> 00:26:29,203 They leave nest-building, incubation and feeding the young entirely to the female, 233 00:26:29,367 --> 00:26:33,758 so they're able to devote all their time and energy to these displays. 234 00:26:39,727 --> 00:26:44,084 Females travel from one territory to another assessing the rival males 235 00:26:44,247 --> 00:26:48,206 for the complexity of their song and splendour of their plumes. 236 00:26:48,367 --> 00:26:52,758 A particularly successful male may mate with many females. 237 00:26:59,087 --> 00:27:04,525 The lyre bird is unusual in having both an elaborate song and magnificent plumes. 238 00:27:04,687 --> 00:27:07,076 Most birds invest in one or the other. 239 00:27:07,247 --> 00:27:09,920 Those that rely primarily on visual displays 240 00:27:10,087 --> 00:27:13,079 have developed the most ravishing costumes. 241 00:27:14,447 --> 00:27:16,836 The tragapan from Western China. 242 00:27:17,007 --> 00:27:20,886 He only reveals the full beauty of the wattles on his throat 243 00:27:21,047 --> 00:27:23,436 when a female approaches. 244 00:28:25,927 --> 00:28:29,317 The Palawan peacock pheasant from the Philippines. 245 00:28:47,167 --> 00:28:51,160 The standard-winged bird of paradise from the Molucca Islands, 246 00:28:51,327 --> 00:28:54,319 with some of the oddest of all plumes. 247 00:29:14,887 --> 00:29:17,799 The rifle bird of Australia. 248 00:30:00,287 --> 00:30:04,758 It's this appetite of females for increasingly dramatic spectacles 249 00:30:04,927 --> 00:30:09,523 that has forced the males to dance to their tune in ever more extreme ways. 250 00:30:09,687 --> 00:30:14,477 And surely the most spectacular of all is the display of the peacock. 251 00:30:34,727 --> 00:30:37,560 Elaborate plumes are something of a handicap. 252 00:30:37,727 --> 00:30:40,195 They make it more difficult for the bird to fly 253 00:30:40,367 --> 00:30:44,121 and they also make it more conspicuous for any predator to find. 254 00:30:44,287 --> 00:30:49,315 So it's not surprising that most birds, at the end of the breeding season, shed them. 255 00:30:49,487 --> 00:30:51,682 But that is a considerable waste. 256 00:30:51,847 --> 00:30:56,363 0ne family of birds, the bowerbirds, have found a very ingenious way 257 00:30:56,527 --> 00:30:59,246 of avoiding these two disadvantages. 258 00:30:59,407 --> 00:31:01,443 This is not a nest. 259 00:31:01,607 --> 00:31:04,997 It's a display case built by the male bowerbird 260 00:31:05,167 --> 00:31:09,797 in order to show off the objects he collects to impress the female. 261 00:31:09,967 --> 00:31:13,846 He gathers together flowers, feathers from other birds, 262 00:31:14,007 --> 00:31:16,885 anything as long as it's brightly coloured. 263 00:31:17,047 --> 00:31:20,960 The satin bowerbird that built this bower prefers blue objects. 264 00:31:21,127 --> 00:31:25,120 He's fussy not only about their colour but their arrangement. 265 00:31:25,287 --> 00:31:29,519 So if I take this blue parrot feather and put it just there, 266 00:31:29,687 --> 00:31:32,042 he won't like it at all. 267 00:32:01,287 --> 00:32:06,077 The male alone is responsible for building these showcases. 268 00:32:08,087 --> 00:32:12,877 Females regularly tour the bowers, assessing their riches. 269 00:32:14,047 --> 00:32:18,916 The arrival of one stimulates the male to posture and strut. 270 00:32:20,047 --> 00:32:25,644 But she's not yet made up her mind. There may be a more impressive bower elsewhere. 271 00:32:27,727 --> 00:32:30,719 A rival and more dominant male appears. 272 00:32:35,287 --> 00:32:39,883 He steals the treasures while the proprietor of the bower is away. 273 00:32:57,447 --> 00:33:01,838 He does more. He's not only a thief but a vandal. 274 00:33:25,847 --> 00:33:30,637 And he uses the remains of the demolished bower to reinforce his own. 275 00:33:32,687 --> 00:33:38,683 He now has the most spectacular collection of decorations in the whole neighbourhood. 276 00:33:43,767 --> 00:33:47,840 And this individual embellishes his treasury in yet another way. 277 00:33:48,007 --> 00:33:52,205 He paints its walls with a blue paste made from mashed berries. 278 00:33:52,367 --> 00:33:55,165 It's all done to impress the female. 279 00:34:07,887 --> 00:34:14,884 If she is going to mate, it will be here between the walls of the bower that she will receive him. 280 00:34:31,287 --> 00:34:34,085 There are 18 different species of bowerbird, 281 00:34:34,247 --> 00:34:39,685 each with its own architectural design for a bower and its own taste in ornaments. 282 00:34:39,847 --> 00:34:42,839 This is the bower of the golden bowerbird. 283 00:34:43,007 --> 00:34:45,999 Up here in the forests, which are rather wetter, 284 00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:50,797 there's a kind of fungus which grows on twigs binding them together. 285 00:34:50,967 --> 00:34:54,516 So this bower is a much more solid structure 286 00:34:54,687 --> 00:34:57,759 and much less easily destroyed than that of the satin. 287 00:34:57,927 --> 00:35:02,443 Indeed, this particular bower may be as much as 40 or 50 years old. 288 00:35:02,607 --> 00:35:04,996 This is the perch on which the bird displays. 289 00:35:05,167 --> 00:35:09,604 And here are its treasures, which are not blue, but pale green, 290 00:35:09,767 --> 00:35:12,406 with white flowers with black seeds in them. 291 00:35:12,567 --> 00:35:15,639 And there's one further difference with the satin bird. 292 00:35:15,807 --> 00:35:18,640 The golden bowerbird is a much shyer creature. 293 00:35:18,807 --> 00:35:23,881 If I'm going to be lucky enough to see it, I'm going to have to retreat some distance. 294 00:35:32,887 --> 00:35:35,685 He's got another of those white flowers. 295 00:35:48,247 --> 00:35:51,205 A female having a critical look. 296 00:36:15,767 --> 00:36:19,680 The male sneaks onto a neighbouring bower while the owner is away. 297 00:36:19,847 --> 00:36:24,682 The tower of twigs may be a fixture, but the treasures can be filched. 298 00:36:36,527 --> 00:36:41,078 The rivalry between black grouse is rather more obvious. 299 00:36:41,247 --> 00:36:43,363 The males, here displaying in Scotland, 300 00:36:43,527 --> 00:36:47,406 have their dancing courts alongside one another on the open moors. 301 00:36:47,567 --> 00:36:50,718 Such closeness inevitably leads to quarrels. 302 00:36:50,887 --> 00:36:53,276 (C00ING) 303 00:37:11,727 --> 00:37:14,639 Such an arrangement, however, allows the females 304 00:37:14,807 --> 00:37:19,198 to make their assessments and comparisons much more easily. 305 00:37:53,487 --> 00:37:58,277 Their decision seems to be based not only on the splendour of the males' displays 306 00:37:58,447 --> 00:38:01,962 and the vigour of their dances, but also where they dance. 307 00:38:02,127 --> 00:38:06,120 The females prefer to mate in the centre of the whole gathering, 308 00:38:06,287 --> 00:38:10,280 and the male who has battled for and won that will get the majority of females. 309 00:38:23,887 --> 00:38:28,119 You might think that such mass displays would be impossible 310 00:38:28,287 --> 00:38:31,324 in such thick undergrowth as this in Trinidad, 311 00:38:31,487 --> 00:38:34,047 but that's exactly what's going on here. 312 00:38:34,207 --> 00:38:38,758 These little black and white birds are mannequins. 313 00:38:38,927 --> 00:38:45,446 Each male has industriously cleared for himself a little dancing court. 314 00:38:45,607 --> 00:38:48,724 What's more, they're all so obsessed with dancing 315 00:38:48,887 --> 00:38:53,881 that they don't just do so for a few weeks in the year but for nine whole months, 316 00:38:54,047 --> 00:38:58,837 and, what is more, for 90% of daylight hours within those months. 317 00:39:01,447 --> 00:39:06,123 The males keep their courts meticulously clean and tidy. 318 00:39:06,287 --> 00:39:09,597 They perch together amiably enough above their courts, 319 00:39:09,767 --> 00:39:13,157 but when a female appears, their mood changes. 320 00:39:18,527 --> 00:39:23,078 Now each does his best to impress her with his dancing skill. 321 00:39:28,967 --> 00:39:31,606 The strange noises are produced by the males 322 00:39:31,767 --> 00:39:37,080 snapping their wings together behind their backs and clicking the quills of flight feathers. 323 00:39:37,247 --> 00:39:40,444 It seems as if they are flying backwards, 324 00:39:40,607 --> 00:39:45,203 because they manage to make a mid-air turn just before they land. 325 00:39:48,167 --> 00:39:51,762 Mannequin dances vary greatly from species to species. 326 00:39:51,927 --> 00:39:54,395 The club-winged snaps as he jumps 327 00:39:54,567 --> 00:39:59,038 and adopts a posture that draws attention to his scarlet cap. 328 00:40:11,047 --> 00:40:15,996 Blue-crowned mannequins fly in circles around their display perches. 329 00:40:36,527 --> 00:40:39,917 The golden-headed favours a backward shuffle. 330 00:40:46,647 --> 00:40:50,356 That movement is elaborated further by the wire-tailed, 331 00:40:50,527 --> 00:40:55,999 who flicks the female across her chin with long filaments projecting from his tail. 332 00:41:03,687 --> 00:41:09,284 But these long-tailed mannequins are even more extraordinary, for both are males. 333 00:41:09,447 --> 00:41:12,245 The female has just landed on the right. 334 00:41:15,327 --> 00:41:20,720 This is a double act. The female will only respond if two males perform together. 335 00:41:25,207 --> 00:41:28,483 But why should apparent rivals help each other? 336 00:41:28,647 --> 00:41:33,323 0ne is senior. He is the one who owns the dancing perch. 337 00:41:33,487 --> 00:41:35,682 0nly he will mate with the female. 338 00:41:35,847 --> 00:41:39,601 The other is his apprentice who's learning the form. 339 00:41:48,407 --> 00:41:51,399 And, indeed, this dance does take some learning. 340 00:41:52,847 --> 00:41:56,396 Young males start practising in their second or third year. 341 00:41:56,567 --> 00:41:59,081 They get their adult plumage when they're four, 342 00:41:59,247 --> 00:42:03,206 but they still continue to dance with younger birds as this one is doing. 343 00:42:03,367 --> 00:42:08,805 0nly when he's eight is he likely to be taken on as an apprentice by a male who owns a court. 344 00:42:08,967 --> 00:42:11,356 If and when his senior partner dies, 345 00:42:11,527 --> 00:42:15,122 he may inherit the court and take on an apprentice of his own. 346 00:42:15,287 --> 00:42:17,755 But even then he will only succeed in mating 347 00:42:17,927 --> 00:42:22,717 if the females are impressed by the virtuosity of his team performance. 348 00:42:31,487 --> 00:42:37,437 This male antelope, a topi, is also defending a court. 349 00:42:38,527 --> 00:42:42,315 It wasn't until just recently that we realised 350 00:42:42,487 --> 00:42:45,285 that any mammals displayed like this. 351 00:42:47,007 --> 00:42:51,285 And that's just what's going on here in the plains of Kenya. 352 00:42:51,447 --> 00:42:56,043 I'm sitting on the edge of just such a display ground. 353 00:42:57,647 --> 00:43:01,196 Immediately behind me are the two best courts. 354 00:43:01,367 --> 00:43:04,120 Each is held by a male who's trotting around, 355 00:43:04,287 --> 00:43:08,803 inspecting the half-dozen or so females, who also have horns, 356 00:43:08,967 --> 00:43:11,356 who've come to visit him today. 357 00:43:11,527 --> 00:43:15,520 He sniffs one to discover whether she's ready to mate. 358 00:43:18,487 --> 00:43:23,322 Within a few yards of these central courts stands a less successful male. 359 00:43:23,487 --> 00:43:28,083 He has a court, but it's not the best, and no females have joined him. 360 00:43:30,087 --> 00:43:32,078 The courts are so closely packed 361 00:43:32,247 --> 00:43:37,241 that rivals frequently come face to face on the frontier between them. 362 00:43:38,447 --> 00:43:43,237 As long as they don't cross the line, their disputes are no more than symbolic. 363 00:44:00,927 --> 00:44:05,000 As the day warms up, more and more females thread their way through the courts 364 00:44:05,167 --> 00:44:09,763 to the central ones held by the most successful males. 365 00:44:10,927 --> 00:44:14,044 This young calf is accompanied by its mother. 366 00:44:14,207 --> 00:44:19,201 She's ready to breed again, but not with this male, who's a low-ranking one. 367 00:44:23,167 --> 00:44:25,283 He nonetheless tries his luck. 368 00:44:25,447 --> 00:44:28,086 In doing so, he crosses the frontier of his court 369 00:44:28,247 --> 00:44:32,798 and immediately his neighbour gallops across to repel the invasion. 370 00:44:44,847 --> 00:44:47,077 The successful males in the centre courts 371 00:44:47,247 --> 00:44:51,320 have now acquired almost more females than they can manage. 372 00:44:54,287 --> 00:44:58,883 There are so many that squabbles are breaking out between them. 373 00:45:24,007 --> 00:45:28,922 The least successful bulls hold courts around the edges of the display ground. 374 00:45:29,087 --> 00:45:32,477 It's now hot and they're very tired, but they won't leave. 375 00:45:32,647 --> 00:45:38,643 0nly by competing do they stand a chance of eventually graduating to a premier position. 376 00:45:40,607 --> 00:45:45,601 But these marginal courts, being close to tall grass, are dangerous places. 377 00:45:47,047 --> 00:45:49,038 A hyena. 378 00:46:52,887 --> 00:46:55,117 Not all get away. 379 00:47:11,687 --> 00:47:16,477 For a topi, the cost of courtship can indeed be high. 380 00:47:22,447 --> 00:47:27,441 The rewards for all these displays, persuasions and entreaties, however, 381 00:47:27,607 --> 00:47:29,996 can certainly be great. 382 00:47:31,007 --> 00:47:36,035 Yet even coupling may not be the ultimate achievement it might seem to be. 383 00:47:36,207 --> 00:47:38,721 An animal may have to do even more than this 384 00:47:38,887 --> 00:47:42,960 if it's to ensure that its genes will pass on to the next generation 385 00:47:43,127 --> 00:47:45,960 and so transcend its mortality. 386 00:47:46,127 --> 00:47:48,721 That will be the final trial.