Courtship and Beyond
Ah, yes, love is in the air. There are some parallels to human courtship that birds exhibit - like crazy dancing or males showing off. Sometimes it can be the elaborate courtship dance of the Sandhill Cranes or the seemingly almost violent rituals of some ducks or nothing more than being together constantly as in eagles. This section includes not only courtship and mating but some end results such as nesting and the inevitable offspring. Here are some examples below. I highly recommend clicking on any image to view it larger
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes have one of the most interesting ways of courting. Both the male and female will start jumping up and down in an elaborate courtship dance. I go to Monte Vista, Colorado almost every year in February or March to watch this when the Cranes stop there for about six weeks on their way from Bosque del Apache, New Mexico up to Yellowstone National Park.
Below - Often times a crane will go the “extra mile” to court by holding a stick in its bill only to usually let it go as it jumps up just as the crane on the left did here.
Below - These two kept alternating jumping up while the other stayed low. Males and females alike do the parts of the dance equally.
Below - In addition to “dancing” cranes will fluff their feathers to really make an impression
Below - Sometimes the other crane appears to want no part of the dance.
Below - Cranes will perform their dance even if a group is “watching”.
Below - And sometimes I’m not sure the cranes even know which two will pair up.
Eagles
The whole courtship process and beyond starts around February here and goes for about six months afterward. In February I start seeing eagle pairs constantly together (and physically much closer than normal) and then in March, I can see nests and then several weeks later, eaglets. Of course, I follow Audubon Society guidelines for photographing nests so I am using (usually) a 700mm lens and a cropped image so they will appear much closer than they really are.
Below- This couple started becoming inseparable in February. I knew they were picking a nest location if not even already building it. They begin to “chitter” to each other quite a bit and I assume they are planning things around the nest.
Below - This couple already built their nest which is in branches just below them.
Owls
Courtship and beyond is very similar for owls as they are to eagles including the same time period although baby owlets seem to fledge on their own faster than eaglets do.
Top three images - These three images are all from the same nest. In the top image you can really see how fuzzy the newborn is as it snuggles its mother. Below that are two images of the “newborns” getting older but still maintaining that “snowball” look as their fuzz begins to take shape as more recognizable feathers.
Bottom three images - These three images are also from the same nest, a different one from the one on the left. The top two show the “newborns” about to fledge and leave the nest for good. The image on the bottom shows the tired parents anxiously awaiting empty nester status. How parallel to humans this is!
Right -This Great Horned Owl new family was born in 2024. Mom has previously brought a meal to the two remaining in the nest. The third owlet was already “branching out” by this time.
Right -Same family. This owlet is now taking training flights from one tree to another nearby tree.
Right -Mom brings a meal to the unsuspecting owlet
Right -Same family as another owlet attempts a very short fledgling flight.
Ducks
Ducks are somewhat vivid in both courting and the actual mating process. Here are some examples below.
Left - Upper and Lower (below two images on mobile) - I watched the female Common Merganser (duck with greenish head)) trailing a male Common Merganser (duck with reddish head) in the water for a long time. This is her signal to him that she is ready to mate. He seemed to ignore her for an equally long time (playing “hard to get”?) until he was ready, too. The male then “dunks” the female into the water while mounting her from on top. All birds use the same basic mounting technique so that the male can fertilize the female’s egg. It looks a bit primitive and even “rough” but it is simply nature’s way.
Right (below on mobile) - Apparently male Mallards outnumber female Mallards so there is quite a bit of competition among males (see my page about “Fighting”). Again, the male “dunks” the female into the water as part of the process.
Right - Hooded Mergansers perform an elaborate movement to woo their possible mate. In this image the two male Hooded Mergansers (center and right ducks) throw their heads way back in a show of, umm, I’m not sure, to possibly impress the female (the duck on the left). Ironically, I noticed in this instance she wasn’t the least bit impressed and swam as far away from these two as possible. Maybe she was already paired up?
Kestrels
In this sequence of American Kestrels mating, I watched the two get continually closer to each other on a telephone wire and then the male suddenly jump on top of the female. Within seconds they were done and she flew off the wire.
Killdeer
Killdeer are shorebirds that have a more elaborate courtship and mating procedure than many other birds. I got to watch the whole impressive process at a local lake on a cloudy, overcast day. First, there was a whole lot of chirping going on (ironically, the species name of Killdeer is “vociferus”, as in “vociferous”). Then the male would scrape a depression in the shore making a false nest (Killdeer will make a real nest also in the shore), followed by some lifting of tail feathers, then the male picking up its feet in a rapid motion for a while. Lastly, the male mounts the female and stands atop her inseminating the female during this last stage. What was kind of funny about this particular series is that they were in the open right up until he jumped on top and they moved behind a tiny bush that didn’t hide them all that much but it gave them enough privacy while causing my shot to have branches in it!