As a nature photographer, I share the philosophy of Ofer Levy, who has written articles on this website, and spend time photographing subjects providing action or interesting behavior. The latter aspect is brilliantly exemplified by the courting activities of bowerbirds.
The bowerbirds are a monophyletic family of passerines consisting of 20 species in eight genera whose distribution is limited to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Australia has eight unique species, PNG has 10 species, plus two that are also found in Australia, making the total number of bowerbird species in the world as 20.
Bowerbirds have historically been divided into three groups: those who build no bowers, those who construct two parallel walls of sticks (avenue builders); and those whose bower is based on one or more vertical spires (maypole builders).
Bowers can be complex structures built by the males but are not used for nesting, only as a prelude to it. Bowers are generally associated with decorated display courts, and most species also decorate the structural components of their bowers. Without exception, the bowers are built on the ground and act as a stage for the male courtship display. With their bowers, vocalizations, plumage and ritualized displays, bowerbirds have one of the most complex sets of performances of any animal. Aspects of this intriguing behavior can be relatively easy to observe and photograph in areas of Queensland, Australia, where the photographer can be easily entertained.
Avenue builders
In the misty crests and hollows of the Lamington Range, several species of avenue-building bowerbirds congregate. In the first light of morning, a number of sub pigeon-sized birds forage on the grassy meadows. These are male and female Satin Bowerbirds (Ptylinorhynchus violaceus). (1, 2) The bower consists of twigs painted with mixtures of berry-juice saliva and hoop pine leaves, tobacco bush berries and charcoal. The surrounding area is decorated mainly with blue items, often human-derived, as well as cicada cases, feathers, onionskins, blue and yellow flowers and berries (3). Intermingling with the Satin Bowerbirds are the fruit-eating Regent Bowerbirds (Sericulus chrysocephalus). The male sports a spectacular gold and black plumage. (4). The female is black-crowned with a scalloped back, yellow eye and black bill (5). The male Regent Bowerbird builds a scanty avenue often consisting of only a few twigs decorated with green berries, cicada shells and other objects often stolen from Satin Bowerbird bowers. Decorating objects are mainly yellow to orange, which makes an interesting comparison with the blue objects favored by the Satin Bowerbirds and the white objects favored by the Great Bowerbirds.
The male Regent Bowerbird displays when a female approaches his bower. He prances, twists and prostrates himself making good use of the bright yellow coloration. He will also offer gifts from his ornamental collection. Mating takes place in the bower, in other pre-cleared avenues or in adjacent branches.
Farther north on the Atherton Tableland, the Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) romances multiple females in his characteristic avenue-type bower. The relatively large Great Bowerbird sports rather a drab livery: a grey, head and breast without streaking or spotting. There is a crest of pink-lilac feathers, much reduced in females. The feathers are hidden except during mating rituals (6). The bowers are fastidiously constructed, complete with a roof. The avenue as well as the ground in front of the bower consists of a diverse array of objects with white being the dominant color; bleached snail shells, broken masonry, aluminum foil, sundry jewelry chains, stones, fruit, assorted ribbons, human hair restraints and broken glass (7). Two bowers I photographed that were 80km apart both had red ballpoint pens as favorite display items. One was near a camping ground office and the other in the grounds of a country primary school, which facilitates the stealing of these objects (8). Favorite offerings to the female were aggregated near the entrance of the bowers. I have watched three different bowers created by the Great Bowerbird and have made the following observations: The custodians of the bowers are very alert and fastidious. Every 10-12 minutes they descend and do some housekeeping: shifting the shells, realigning the ribbons and prodding the sticks lining the avenue (9,10,11). They call from the bower entrance, from the ground around the bower and from the branches of an adjacent tree (12,13). When an interested female arrives, an array of male behavior begins. He struts with his wings down while carrying a gift in the bill and clicks like a traditional typewriter (14). He performs the same behavior with puffed up feathers. (15) He performs various tricks at the bower entrance such as throwing sticks and presenting an array of props and finally unleashing the lilac feathers at the back of the head and showing them to the female (16,17).
Great Bowerbirds are pigeon-sized and will defend their possessions from other competitors and passing mammals. I observed a hungry Rock Wallaby eating some of the display fruit at the entrance of a bower. The custodian gave the thief an old-fashioned scolding (18).
Mating is often quite rushed and somewhat violent. Bowers remain in place for years and are used each year by the current curator. These bowers are more accessible to photographers than most as they are also in better light in that they are more in the open. In contrast to the carefully constructed bower, the nest (built by the female) is a sparse cup in an upright fork in a nearby tree. Two eggs are usually laid and the female is the solo parent.
In part 2, I feature two bowerbirds that build maypole-type bowers and live in the higher altitudes and bowerbirds that don’t build bowers.