Then he begins a series of flawless imitations of many of the other birds that share his home--satin
bowerbirds, rosella parrots, yellow honeyeaters, kookaburras.
Bowerbirds can mimic the calls of other birds, as well as other animal sounds and human voices, but little is known about why they do it, and how they learn and expand their repertoire.
This web protects it, just like the snail's shell, and provides it a livelihood, just like the spider's web, and advances its prospects for sex, just like the
bowerbird's bower.
The number who did not answer the question on whether the species was known to them was highest for the eclectus parrot (2.5%), followed by the golden-shouldered parrot and the golden
bowerbird (2%).
This is the practice of some animals, most notably the male
bowerbird of Australia, to create decorative displays which females evaluate in order to choose reproductive partners.
WHEN THE MALE spotted
bowerbird wants to impress a potential mate, he offers her a collection of white objects--bones, pebbles, bits of plastic--in a specially constructed bower of grass and twigs.
Beehler and his team identified a number of plants and animals new to science during a December 2005 expedition to the isolated Foja Mountains, and also studied rare but documented species already known to local guides, including the Golden-fronted
Bowerbird and Berlepsch's Six-wired Bird of Paradise.
They include the golden-mantle tree kangaroo, the long-beaked echidna and a golden-fronted
bowerbird.
A new species of Smokey honeyeater is pictured right, and below, a Golden-fronted
bowerbird.
* A male
bowerbird can determine a female bird's level of interest by studying her posture: If a female
bowerbird is interested in the n]ale, she will "crouch" or lower her body.
(They have grown up together.) Arrive at the photo of a
bowerbird decorating its nest with various odds and ends--all blue--and who wouldn't want to know more?