Bowerbirds

November 21

I stumbled across a bower today. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small clearing that looked like someone had diligently removed all the litter from the forest floor. It just seemed too clean, too organized for nature. Small mounds peppered the clearing: little piles of feathers, nuts, flowers, beetle shells, and bits of blue plastic from who-knows-where. In the middle of this clearing was the most surprising and intricate structure made of sticks and twigs. It was a bower, though this particular one was a bit different from what I would expect from the Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus. Theirs are usually around 30 cm high and 50 cm long, with two walls that push up like waves to create a middle alley (think Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea). The ingenuity of these birds continues to amaze me, and this bower was no exception. Had I not known better, I would have thought that the artist, Andy Goldsworthy, had turned into a fairy and moved into the forests of eastern Australia.

Bowerbirds can be found throughout New Guinea and Australia in forests that are so abundant in natural resources that the birds can focus their energies in projects other than food gathering. Like growing brains large enough to become architects.

The males may be the builders but the females are the ultimate critics. With an analytical eye, the females inspect the quality of the bowers; is it symmetrical? Are there enough blue objects? Does the light hit the structure just right? Because a well-constructed bower means a male with strong genes, the female will mate only if every detail is perfect. However, if the bower and its builder do not meet her standards, the female will simply move on to the next bower that catches her eye.