Week of February 16, 2025 – February 22, 2025
by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator
While wildlife certainly do not celebrate Valentine’s Day, this is a fun time to think about the captivating world of mating in the animal kingdom. Every species on Earth has a unique courtship ritual, each one more fascinating than the next. Some species do a little dance to get a lady’s attention, others may build an intricate nest, and many more compete with each other for the female’s hand or paw or hoof or fin.
I’m sure you’ve heard of “survival of the fittest” or “natural selection” – and reproductive or sexual selection is an evolutionary process that has developed over time in order for animals to ensure the success and survival of their offspring. There are two main types of sexual selection: intrasexual and intersexual selection. Intrasexual selection is when two individuals of the same species and sex (usually males) compete for an eligible bachelorette. Intersexual selection (also called “female choice”) is when males of a species have specific traits that are designed through evolution that are desirable to females, e.g. females choose the male with the most striking tail feathers This type of selection is where you usually see dancing, singing, nest building, or other types of elaborate displays.
In competition scenarios you will usually observe a secondary characteristic that directly helps in competing with each other, such as antlers in white-tailed deer or larger body size in eastern coyotes. In female choice scenarios, you can often see elaborate displays – even in your own backyard! Take northern cardinals – the bright red males dance around a female singing and flapping their wings and will even exchange food from his beak to her beak! In this example, we can see sexual dimorphism, where the male is larger than the female and their coloring is drastically different, but there are also animals that lack this phenomenon, like the American crow. These smart birds rely on behavioral courtship rituals during mating season like puffing feathers, bowing, strutting, and a rattle-like song.
There is such a vast spectrum of mating rituals we barely even skimmed the surface during this blog! It can be so much fun to learn about the types of mating behaviors and when they occur so that you may be able to catch a song and a dance! It’s also fascinating to realize the certain physical or behavioral traits that animals have developed in order to be “desired” by a mate or to be able to hold their own in competition. It is especially important to observe any mating rituals from a distance and not disturb these courtships if you are lucky enough to see them.