What is the courtship behavior of birds like? When do they court? How do birds fertilize themselves? When do birds mate? And when and how long do they breed?
Even in birds, the hormones go haywire in spring and everything revolves around the topic of reproduction. Males look for a territory and try to attract a partner. Females aim to select the best genes for their offspring. How exactly the courtship behavior of different bird species looks like and what else needs to be done after the successful search for a partner before the first young birds can hatch can be found here in our large information article on the subject of courtship and mating of birds.
Bird Mating: Courtship Season and Courtship Behavior of Birds
The start of courtship depends on the species of bird. While many owls and also woodpeckers begin courtship displays as early as February, other bird species only start courtship between March and April. As so often in the animal kingdom, it is usually the males who court a partner and try to impress by displaying magnificent feathers and dances or sonorous calls and songs. Males that are particularly conspicuous, loud or dominant are preferred by the females because they show the strength and he alth that the females want for their offspring.
Most of our classic garden birds are songbirds which - as the name suggests - mainly draw attention to themselves with their melodic song. The great spotted woodpecker, on the other hand, attracts its female with a rhythmic drumming and our domestic ducks develop a special breeding plumage that impresses with its colors and contrasts. For more information on different plumages and what they mean, see our special article on bird feathers.
Reproductive Behavior and Mating Season of Birds
After the mating season, the mating of the newly united partners usually follows immediately. It often follows as a climax directly to the respective courtship ritual. The actual matingThe process is similar to that of mammals and other groups of animals, even if the sex organs are designed somewhat differently. For the purpose of reproduction, birds have a body opening called the cloaca, which is used to transfer sperm from the male to the female, thus fertilizing the eggs. The mating can take place in the bird's nest, in the cave, on the ground or even in the air.
Breeding and breeding season of birds
The beginning of the breeding season depends on the bird species, just like the courtship and mating season. The female often lays the eggs a day apart and begins incubating when all the eggs are in the nest. For an optimal heat supply, most birds have a brood patch, which consists of a small bald area on the abdomen of the animal that is particularly well supplied with blood and which is formed during the breeding season by the hormonally controlled shedding of feathers. After the breeding season, the brood spot disappears again under a dense coat of feathers so that the animals do not lose any unnecessary warmth in winter. In many bird species, incubation is exclusively a woman's job, but it is not uncommon for the partners to take turns incubating.
Note: A distinction is made between breeding season and breeding period. The incubation period describes how long the eggs are incubated. Depending on the species, this can take anywhere from a few days to two or three weeks. The breeding season, on the other hand, describes the period of time that includes the entire breeding activity of the species. If breeding pairs carry out multiple broods in one season, the breeding season can extend over several months.
The courtship efforts of the males, the production of eggs by the females and the constant heat production during incubation are associated with a high expenditure of energy. Because of this, expectant bird parents need to eat a lot of food. You can therefore support your garden birds during this strenuous time by spreading bird seed. In our increasingly monotonous, intensified and urbanized landscape, native wild birds find less and less natural food. Our Plantura all-season food, for example, was specially developed for the breeding season and offers a species-appropriate and young bird-friendly food source for many native breeding and garden birds.
You can find out more about young birds and their feeding, the various stages of development and other aspects of brood care in our special articleon the subject of "nestlings".