We definitely saw a lot of courtship and even mating behavior among the terns and gulls at Plymouth Beach last month.
It was fellow blogger
Hilke Breder, the brilliant author of
One Jackdaw Birding, who noticed the courtship behavior displayed in this photo when I first posted it a few weeks ago.
There is evidently quite a bit of ritualized behavior involved in the courtship of Common Terns.
Along with head tossing, loud calls, and very dignified dancing, there was also what we would consider more romantic behavior. The males often bring a gift of food to their potential mate, for instance.
At first, I thought this 'piggyback' behavior was nothing more than a game. There is no potential for consummation of a sexual act in this position, after all!
But this how sex starts for terns and for other species such as Laughing Gulls. After a little twisting and 'terning', the female will probably walk away with a fertilized egg!
Labels:
Common Tern
Wonderful series of photos!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable post.
ReplyDeleteSusan, thanks for mentioning my blog! Your photos are amazing, a wonderful illustration of the ritual of courtship among the terns, the strutting, posturing etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, guys. I'm positively blushing to be complimented by such stellar bloggers as yourselves. I appreciate your comments tremendously!
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