Male Golden-Collared Manakins (VIDEO)
Caption
Male Golden-collared manakins create a display court where they strut their stuff—jumping from stem to stem and snapping their wings together to woo potential mates. They remove leaves and other debris to make a flat, open space. Male manakins weigh about 18 grams—a little more than a CD and a little less than a mouse.
We wanted to know to what lengths they would go to keep their court clean so we added weights to the bottoms of leaves and then placed them in the court.
We discovered Manakins can fly with an 18g leaf—their own weight—lifting it into the air and then dropping it.
To deal with heavier leaves, they flip and drag.
This male could move leaves that are up to 30 grams, almost twice his weight.
We also discovered that this court-cleaning behavior can be activated in young males by giving them testosterone. Giving females testosterone just makes them more aggressive. Mature males have a vested interest in keeping the court clean so that they can be seen.
Credit
Ioana Chiver, STRI
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