Hi!
I am from a far away country (Portugal), and i have been reading
about bower birds. I find them quite puzzling. Currently I am doing
some research on evolutionary biology and i came across with the
idea that mutual sexual selection may operate almost in any
species. While this idea is quite opposite to the current view which
points to the fact that males show ornaments and females choose,
i find that mutual sexual selection may also be at work but
probably it is not so easily observable. Bower birds may be a
simple case that seems to go against mutual sexual selection:
males seem to build nest independently of the females that may or
not come one day visit them. Hence they seem to support rather
the common view that males show ornaments and that they would
be willing to copulate with any female. They would not be moved by
sexual preferences.
So I wondered what keen bird observers (sometimes not so
attached to theories...) think about this?
Just to give some support to my theory i would say that it is hard
to imagine that hormones involved in sexual behavior stop unless a
female in near a bower. I.e., these birds sexual lives shouold be
seen in a much more contextual way: females and males would
exchange signals well before a female would actually come to the
bower, for instance when they search for food and so on. Hence,
coming to visit the bower may also be seen as the outcome of a
"long lasting relation". Females may come to the bower if they
have been observing the male and the male have already been
calling her attention, like flying close to her.
My question is: does this happen? Do males and females interact
well before coming to the bower? Do we see some sort of
performance of males towards females away from the bower?
If anybody may contribute with their own experience i would be
glad to hear about it.
cheers,
fernao
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