Hi Chris and others..
I haven't seen WWs doing the behaviour that you describe, but
Rufous Whistlers certainly do. In the latter it is the male that sings
from likely spots, 'squatting' as if incubating while showing
numerous nest sites to the female. By this stage pair bonds have
been formed and folicular hierarchy has been established in the
female (ie eggs are in the process of being formed and while be laid
within the next couple of weeks).
Male RWs sing and do their typical bob display before 'false
incubating/squatting' at as many as half a dozen likely spots (no
where near 60, guess they don't have the energy of WWs!) before
the female picks a site and begins nest construction. Interestingly
the first nest built is almost always not used, perhaps acting as a
decoy. It is sometimes pulled apart to be used as material for the
second nest, which is usually the recipient of the first eggs.
Happy Birding,
Paul
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul McDonald
Division of Botany and Zoology
School of Life Sciences
Australian National University
Canberra, A.C.T.
Australia 0200
Ph: +61 6 249 2536
Fax: +61 6 249 5573
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