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Courtship display

Courtship displays are performed by animals seeking to advertise their willingness to mate, attract a partner and sometimes to warn off rivals. Famous examples include the dazzling display of a peacock's tail, and the elaborate dancing and acrobatics performed by birds of paradise. In monogamous animals, such as swans and albatrosses, the male and female often do a mutual courtship display, to reaffirm and reinforce the bond between them.

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Animals with this behaviour

Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

Amphibians

Ray-finned fishes

Cephalopods

Insects

Arachnids

Crabs, shrimp and krill

About

Courtship display is a special, sometimes ritualised, set of behaviours which some animals perform as part of courtship. Courtship behaviours can include special calls, postures, and movements, and may involve special plumage, bright colours or other ornamentation. A good example is the 'dancing' done by male birds of paradise. Such behaviour has multiple purposes, but the first and foremost is to identify the species of the animal performing the display, and hence to prevent biologically wasteful matings between different species. For example, each of the British tit species displays a characteristic that distinguishes them from the others: the great tit swells its chest to show off its black stripe, the crested tit raises its crest, the bearded tit puffs out its black cheeks.

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Behaviours

Other Life cycle behaviours

BBC News about Courtship display

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