Dancing the Carinosa Is for the Birds Quiz

It is the job of the male blue-footed booby to attract the female. These dancing rituals start around four years of age for these birds found in the eastern Pacific Ocean area. The male preens himself to look his best and finds a suitable nesting spot on the ground.

When a potential female mate flies overhead, the male points his whole body to the sky in her direction and whistles. If she is interested and lands by him, he begins a high stepping dance to show off his blue feet. The blue color is a sign of health and reproductive ability, so the darker the color the more attractive he is considered. If the female is interested, she will join in the fun and they will start to build their nest.

In June, May, and November the Galapagos frigatebirds start their mating performances. This is when food supplies are plentiful in the Galapagos Islands. The males have a leathery, crimson pouch located beneath their beak. They will take up to thirty minutes on the ground to inflate these bags before they take flight. Once they are in the air, females on the ground will look for these bright red beacons. If a female shows interest, the male lands and begins a dance involving showing off his pouch, flapping his wings, and swaying his head back and forth.

The birds will then build a nest together.

Albatrosses are seabirds renowned for their complex visual and auditory displays during the mating process. Courtship starts with unpaired females flying over the nesting grounds where the males are located. If the female is interested, she lands near a male and walks with a slow, rolling step towards him.

Then the dancing begins. There are 22 recorded acts during the "ceremony". The birds preen each other's feathers and stretch their necks out until their beaks touch. They also make rattling, snapping, and clicking sounds.

Then they do head rolls and low bows as if they are bowing down to the other bird. If the process is successful, not only does the nest building start, but the pair is now mated for life.

In the spring months, the sharp-tailed grouses begin their mating rituals in the grasslands of North America. The males, together, create an area called a lek where they matt the grass down. Just before dawn, the males begin to make a series of vocalizations to attract the females up in the surrounding trees and shrubs.

Then the dancing starts. The males bow, dip low, and spin in tight circles. Their feet stomp twenty times a second. The females then start choosing the most robust, healthiest males who are performing the elaborate movements.

Sandhill cranes are migratory birds that live in North America. They perform elaborate dances for mating purposes, territory challenges, and to strengthen the bond between a mated couple. The dance between the male and female starts with a bow in which their long bill almost scrapes the ground.

Then from that position they leap up in the air with outstretched wings. They will continue this dance as they circle one another. Because these birds mate for life, these dances are done periodically through the year to reinforce the bond between the couple.

Several bird-of-paradise species are known for their elaborate courtship dances. They primarily live in rain forests in the Indonesian and eastern Australian areas. The male starts the courtship by clearing away a small area of the forest floor. Then he begins turning in different directions to show off his bright plumage.

He twitches and shakes to give the female the best view of his colorings. Then he whirls and snaps his tail in various rhythms. The unique moves he makes are actually genetically encoded in the bird and then refined by the individual animal.

The large ostrich, native to Africa, has a very distinctive sound and movement pattern in the mating ritual. A male ostrich will make a loud, booming noise to attract as many hens as possible. When several have gathered, the male begins to slowly move his wings up and down, one right after the other.

He will then kneel to the ground and sway. This is followed by a a prancing dance around the area. During this time, his neck and shins become brightly colored red to indicate he is ready to mate. He then mates with several of the hens who have shown interest by their feathers having a silvery tint.

Peafowl are native to the Indian subcontinent and the males (peacocks) are known for their beautiful tail feathers. These feathers play a very important role in the mating dance. Each feather consists of a central shaft, loose barbs on its sides, and an ocelli or "eyespot" pattern at the end.

The colors make up iridescent patterns of golds, greens, browns, and blacks. When a peacock is interested in a peahen, he starts a series of moves to shake the feathers and rattle the loose barbs against each other.

They can rattle these feathers 25 times a second. Then they strum the feathers before slowly turning their back so the female can see all sides of the tail. The interested female will mate with him several times and aggressively drive other females away.

Red-capped manakins live in tropical jungles in Central and South America. They are known for doing a form of the "moonwalk" during their mating ritual. As spring starts, the male red-capped manakin will start looking for suitable females. When he finds one, he begins an elaborate dance.

He will fly in a loop pattern around the perch then land on it. That is when he struts forward and then glides backward on the branch, similar to the "moonwalk" dance done by Michael Jackson. He also snaps his wings and shakes his tail. Sometimes these dances are done in small groups of males all performing together.

Flamingos live in tropical and subtropical areas around the world and get their distinctive pink coloration from the food they eat. They also have incredibly elaborate dancework in their mating ritual. They have over 130 combinations of dance moves they perform.

It all starts when one of the males in the flock will stand up straight and start swinging his head back and forth. This is an invitation for other males to join in the dance. They then perform wing shocking, which is the process of displaying the bright undersides of the wings against the pale pink of their bodies.

They then finish the process by doing a variety of footwork as they skip and dance through the shallow waters.