14-Feb Romantic World of Bird Courting

There is much head-nodding, saluting, pouting, dipping, rearing out of the water with a lot of unnecessary waving of wings, preening and washing all designed to catch the eye of a passing female. Mute swans have the most elegant of these displays, during which they are particularly attentive to each other. The cob will chase the pen, then roll from side to side and raise his wings like sails. He then moves around the pen, engaging her with a determined eye, with both birds raising and lowering their heads in unison. There may also be some low snoring and trumpeting and after copulation mutual head dipping. Less romantically, Canada geese follow their mates with outstretched heads, honking loudly and with pochards there is even a certain amount of ‘heavy breathing’.

More black-headed gulls are sporting their recently acquired chocolate-coloured heads and some are head-flagging. There are still large flocks of gulls, mainly black-headed, resting and feeding on open ground all over London but especially along the inner Thames. There are also more aerial displays than last month, with birds including raptors seen high in the sky, wheeling around each other. Coots are splitting up and aggressively seeking partners, and on land blackbirds are doing the same. Savage territorial disputes can occur with birds like blackbirds even rolling around on the ground, locked bill to bill.

Their fights are often in silence, with no notice being taken of any onlookers. Fighting also commonly occurs between coots, gulls and mute swans. Greenfinches have now commenced their own special display flights. They have been described as bat or butterfly-like, the male exaggerating his normal wing movements and performing them more slowly. The ‘crow marriages’ of magpies are sometimes seen where they gather in groups supposedly to pick a mate, one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a wedding and four for a boy.

In gardens, male wrens are chasing females, quivering their tails at any opportunity and tree sparrows seem to permanently have a cocked tail. Many birds are now laying down territories and it is a good time to determine their boundaries. Robins and blackbirds, unlike most other birds, have been territorial throughout the winter. Male and female robins have separate winter territories which are usually just half the size of the summer ones. Now he allows her into his territory, ‘fluffs’ himself up and parades his red breast and sings his heart out. Between chases, the great tit proudly shows off his handsome black chest stripe. Male house sparrows are doing the same, but with their newly acquired black cravats. Flocks of finches are breaking up and now paired birds are beginning to establish their own territories.

The touching of bills together called ‘kissing’, as well as mutual preening and offering food to a partner, are all courting behaviours worth looking out for. Robins and kingfishers both give food offerings, and even herons are known to offer a twig or two. Jays are now in their brightest colours, which they show off while sitting at the tops of trees, raising and lowering their crests to attract even more attention.

Courting between rooks also involves a lot of ceremonious bowing with the male occasionally offering the female a choice worm. High in the sky carrion crows are still wind surfing with lots of sweeping dives, some with their wings flayed out and others with their wings held close to their bodies. These are especially common around London’s high rises. Herons bow to their mates, but also make sure they show off their fine new lavender head feathers as they do so. In the breeding season their bills are pink, later they will change back to yellow. Kingfishers are noticed more as they also are looking for mates. In this case we just see flashes of sapphire. In the sky, over more open land around the edges of London, the tumbling and wing-humming display of lapwings can now be seen and heard whilst below partridges are strutting in front of females with puffed-out chests in between scurrying off to brawl with other males. Woodpigeons, instead of hurtling past in straight lines, are now leisurely gliding with V-shaped wings with the occasional loud wing clap to catch a female’s attention.

One last display worth seeking out is that of buzzards. They are usually noticed in greater numbers on the outskirts of London. Young males are now moving about searching for females. They may climb to one or even two hundred feet and then circle around each other. A male will then dive past a female, calling loudly. This attracts other suitors and then perhaps four, five or even up to ten birds may get involved in this eye-catching display.