These are ridiculous. Really. You find them in, well, praries. They have a very elaborate mating ritual. The males defend territory in Leks ( or "booming grounds"... see above) and display by "booming" (making loud, low-pitched sounds from air gathered into the orange air-sacs). Presumably, the more brightly colored and louder the boom, the better. Also, they stamp their feet and fly into each other for attention and more signs of the quality of male the female is mating with. There is also bowing that goes on.
Here's a video to drive the point home:
And to explain the lek idea more, as you can see the picture of a lek for a sage grouse above (though a different species, same concept), the placement serves as indicators of their status.
i think that greater prairie chicken males should all just cut the bullshit and stop these rituals. the females would get used to it, and then there would be no pretenses and everyone could just mate with whomever. amirite?? i mean, come on guys, you look ridiculous.
ReplyDeletemy favorite part is the stamping feet part. I'm not sure how that's impressive... haha
ReplyDelete