Barn Swallows Video Analysis

In many cases throughout the animal kingdom females run the mating game determining who they in turn want to mate with. One example of such depicted within the video was that of Barn Swallows. Barn swallows are sleek little song birds and are common throughout most of Central America. There was a theory that female Barn Swallows chose males with darker feathers more often to father their young. This was tested by darkening male Barn Swallow feathers with a marker and keeping track determining if they really indeed mate more then others. It was proven that male Barn Swallows with darker feathers tend to breed more and as well father more young. Interestingly enough, darkening the male's feathers as well changed their body chemistry increasing …show more content…
Throughout the animal kingdom males do their best to put on a show and attract females. One in such depicted within the video that puts on an amazing show would be that of the Lyrebird. These birds hold the title for having one of the world's weirdest courtship displays. It all starts with the building of a stage, in most cases dirt piled up into small mounds. Once finished the calls then begin with up to 80% of their song list copied from other species. In many cases Lyrebird calls even fool the real species that the call originated from. Sound is exceedingly important when it comes to courtship and males of many species use sound to show dominance, alert their presence and to attract a mate. Just as important as sound in most cases is apperance. As seen in Barn Swallows, Gelada Monkeys and peacocks, females seek out males that have the best array of color or darkest feathers in this case, in hope to pass those strong genes to that of their offspring. The Lyrebirds courtship display is just a snippet to what males will do to attract a mate. Males of many different species go great lengths to attract a mate during breeding season and this video did a wonderful job in depicting that