Bowerbirds Rituals

The scientists from Queensland (Australia) published and interesting research on bowerbirds, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The birds are well known for their distinctive courtship rituals, which involves males constructing intricate bowers. To decorate the bowers, males collect shiny and brightly colored objects, and the purpose of this creation is to attract females. Because plants such as potato bush have bright purple flowers and green fruit, high numbers of such plants could be found around the bowerbird’s bowers, as birds collect the fruits for display in order to further decorate their bowers. Females are especially attracted to bowers with lots of fruit. What is fascinating is that by collecting the fruits, birds actually grow plants around their constructions rather than building them around locations with high number of the plants. Of course, plants grow around the bowers because the birds gather the fruits and seeds germinate in the ground especially so because bowerbirds keep the area around their bower clear of grass and weeds, creating the soil ideal for germinating and because they sometimes use the same patch of soil for up to ten years. Although it cannot be said that the birds intentionally cultivate the plants, it is still the first time that a species other than humans has been cultivated plants for purpose other than feeding. What is even more fascinating is that the males’ behavior may even cause a change in the appearance of fruits in the same way farmers select the plants with certain features. In this case, because the birds prefer green over the other colors the fruits from plants around the bowers were slightly greener than those found on other plants.