The five species in the genius parotia are on the complex end of the chorography spectrum
in the birds-of-paradise.
They combine their shape-shifting abilities with incredible foot work and exhibit a repertoire
of dance steps that is without equal.
While each species dances during courtship, none has a set of moves as complex and extensive
as carola’s parotia.
With up to six different dance moves, carola’s parotia is the undisputed king of the dance.
Here’s what he does.
Frist up is the “perch pivot”.
It’s called a pivot because the male is pivoting back and forth from side to side,
left to right.
Males always do this on a horizontal branch somewhere above the display court.
In this case, the male’s also carry a leaf sort of as a prop, which it looks like he’s
using to kind of add to the effect here.
The next move is the “head tilt”.
This display takes place on the horizontal perch, where the male hops up and gets next
to the female.
And he tilts his head from left, to the right.
Sometimes he holds it to one side and flutters his throat feathers a little bit.
It may not look like much at first glance, but it’s a regular component of the courtship
display.
Next up is a move called the “court hop”.
Typically a female will be watching from the display branch or very nearby at this point
The male starts on one end of the court and he does a sudden quick hop across the court
in one direction, pauses and then hops back.
Next up is a move called the “swaying bounce”.
This is one of the more complex and physically demanding of all the dance moves.
It begins with the male standing in one place, usually right underneath the horizontal perch
where the females are looking right down at him.
And he starts to bounce vigorously back and forth, back and forth while fluttering his
wings.
Tim got a really cool photograph of this when he was using a slow shutter, but with a burst
of flash.
And what we saw was that the male was actually moving his head in this near perfect figure
eight or an infinity sign.
And this behavior goes on for a long period of time.
The males does another version of the “swaying bounce” where he closes his wings and then
bounces more vigorously up and down, side to side.
Now comes the “hop and shake”.
Here the male stands in one place, dips down, lifts up, does a little hop, and he ruffles
and shakes his flank plumes.
Also see how he shakes his head and flutters those whisker feathers under his chin.
The main thing about the “hop and shake” is that it’s the lead in into the quintessential
parotia display – the “ballerina dance”.
The “ballerina dance” is so complex it’s actually a composite of four very distinct
moves.
First of these is the bow, then comes the walk.
Then there’s a dramatic pause.
And finally come the waggle.
Now it’s important to note that what we’re seeing here is precision chorography.
These aren’t just a bunch of random moves arbitrarily thrown together to impress the
females.
Rather male parotias have a specific set of dance moves that have to happen in the proper
way and in the right sequence in order for them to be successful.
In other words, if the male parotia has four dance moves, he has to perform those moves
in the right way and in the right sequence every time.
First move has to come before the second, the second before the third and so on.
Another way of thinking about it is that a male can’t just show up and go right to
the “ballerina dance” if he expects to be able to mate.
On one hand, all of these moves can be rather amusing, sometimes quite funny.
But it’s also mind blowing to think that these birds have evolved the capacity to dance
in such a complex and ritualized way for no other reason than for courtship display.