Albatross Mating Dance
"After a period of trial and error... the young birds learn the syntax and perfect the dances. This language...involves synchronized performances of various actions such as preening, pointing, calling, bill clacking, staring, and combinations of such behaviors (like the sky-call). When a bird first returns to the colony it will dance with many partners, but after a number of years the number of birds an individual will interact with drops, until one partner is chosen and a pair is formed. They then continue to perfect an individual language that will eventually be unique to that one pair; Having established a pair bond that will last for life."
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1 comment:
oh, I wish humans were capable of doing things this simply. . . thanks for the post, david. I love watching animals in their earnestness.
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