Bowerbirds Decorate Structures to Woo Mates.
Bowerbirds prove that grand romantic gestures aren’t just for romantic comedies. The bird native to Australia and New Guinea build elaborate structures, not for shelter but for love. The male bowerbirds’ courtship ritual includes building a bower, a hut-like nest with walls made of twigs, leaves, straw, and mud that sits on the ground. The bird collects colorful materials like bottle caps, shells, broken glass, and berries to decorate the bower’s inside and surroundings. Bowerbirds are also notorious thieves, stealing materials from other birds’ bowers. The purpose of all this work is to attract the attention of a potential mate. Unlike a regular bird’s nest, the purpose of a bower is used only for mating, not for laying eggs or sheltering young.