BowerBird: Playboy of the Australian Forest

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2 Cover
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5 Technical Specs
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Nature Documentary hosted by Barry Paine and published by BBC broadcasted as part of BBC Natural World series in 1995 - English, Spanish Multilanguage narration

also known as

El Seductor del Bosque Australiano

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

In the world of birds, nearly all males rely on their looks to attract a mate. A lyrebird, like so many, uses his feathers. The Count Raggi's bird of paradise has gauzy plumes spouting from beneath his wings. Bare patches of brilliantly colored skin can also prove quite arresting. Many males flaunt their spectacular plumage in dramatic dances, as the Riflebird does. But nature does not endow every male bird with such spectacular good looks.

In the art of finding a mate, one family of birds has evolved a much more extraordinary technique, the Bowerbirds. Instead of showing off their bodies, they use inanimate objects that they collect and arrange in special ways. Many of them put their treasures on display in front of special structures, bowers.

Bowers come in several different basic shapes. Their treasures vary, too. These days, some birds even collect objects made by human beings.

One species, the Tooth Billed Bowerbird, collects particular kinds of leaves and displays them in the simplest of ways, on a specially cleared patch of the forest floor.

It's no accident that all of these leaves are pale-side uppermost. The bird clearly prefers them that way and I can easily prove that by turning one of them the other way up. That's better. Leaves of the wrong kind, and other bits and pieces, have to be removed to keep the display looking at its best. But will his collection impress the next passing female?