Animal Attraction Valentine’s Day is a significant holiday for us humans -- a time to announce our desire for one another. And even though humans often use verbal language to convey feelings, sometimes, we just send signals. Wearing certain clothes and perfumes, keeping in shape, giving gifts, touching, and sharing time, are all ways we can convey our interest. But what do animals do? Believe it or not, they use the same techniques! |
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Feathered Fatherly Fowl Find Fancies For Females |
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Many species of birds actually bring presents to prospective mates to try and win them over. Male Adelie penguins pile rocks at the females' feet in an attempt to woo them. Another bird, the male satin bower bird, bring anything blue to the nest they might find. That’s right -- just blue -- be it pieces of blue paper, blue flowers, blue bottle caps, or blue straws. Whatever blue items the male satin bower bird can find, he gives...and the females respond. |
Is That Buff Enough?
A lot of bird species seem to be very adept at gift giving, but all animal species know the importance of keeping in shape. "Fitness" signifies something different than an animal working hard to get strong - it is the general health of an animal and the ability of that animal to produce offspring. In many animal societies, the animals that are most fit, get more mates. So, the most fit males compete for the best territories, which usually offer more quality food and shelter. Females want to associate with these males and their territories because it increases the chances their offspring will survive. Many species of antelope have to compete for the prime territories, and females chose with which male they want to associate. Walruses and sea lions have similar systems. That’s why you see so many females with just one male - they all want the "most fit" father for their children -- even though that often does not include raising them! |
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Love is in the Air Insects are great examples of using smell to attract mates.
The male peacock moth can detect the scent of female moths over
seven miles away! |
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Tux and Tails |
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Humans usually pay a lot of attention
to how the opposite sex looks and dresses.
We have been know to wear some pretty outlandish outfits
just to get one another's attention. Animals may not put
on clothes, but how their prospective mate looks is very important
in some species. Males of the paradise widow bird have tails
which are roughly eighteen inches in length. Females tend
to pick males with the longest tail. Experimenters have
cut the tail feathers off of males and found they were much less
successful at finding a mate. When the feathers were glued
onto another bird, he became much more attractive to the ladies! |
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Hold On! |
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Contact is very important to most species of animals for a variety of reasons. Touch can serve to reaffirm and strengthen social bonds. Grooming one another is one of a primate’s most important social activities. Whales and dolphins rub pectoral flippers and their whole bodies on each other. |
Lookin' for Love Many of these behaviors can be observed when you take the time to really watch the animals at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld on the Serengeti Plains, at Myombe Reserve®, Shamu Close-Up®, or in the aviaries and aquariums. Almost everywhere you look, there is always lots of lovin’ going on!
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(What a great system when you don’t own a phone!)
The sense of smell of many animals allows them to detect when
a female of their species is ready to breed. This is important
if your main goal is to produce as many offspring as possible
-- you don’t want to waste your time and energy on unreceptive
females.
