The male's bower is an avenue of twigs and sticks, which he weaves into walls running in a north-south direction. He usually paints these walls with a mixture of charcoal and saliva.
Platforms at both ends of the avenue are decorated with mainly blue-coloured objects - including flowers, feathers, and berries. When there are humans nearby, the birds will also use plastic items such as clothes pegs.
When courting, the male satin bowerbird prances and struts around his bower. He offers the female items from his collection of blue objects, while making a series of hissing, chattering and scolding noises. Mating takes place in the avenue of the bower, and the male may mate with several females in a single season.
Only the female builds a nest. This is a shallow, saucer-shaped construction of twigs and dry leaves, placed 10-15 m above the ground in the upright outer branches of a tree. The nest is lined with fine dry leaves. The female lays one to three eggs, which she incubates. She then raises the young on her own.
with_regards added this photo to their favorites. (15 months ago)
Frontierofficial 8 months ago | reply
Great photo! This photo has been used by www.frontier.ac.uk in a blog article
gapyearblog.org.uk/the-knowledge/2012/10/17/bucket-list-k...
A link back and credit has been provided.
Thanks for sharing!
Frontier
LucasBro 8 months ago | reply
Hi, love this photo!
Just wanted to let you know I've used it in a blog post:
blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtomics/2012/10/25/book...
Cheers!