Posted by Bill Leggett on April 19, 2010 at 6:53 PM
When I was shooting shore birds in Gulfport yesterday morning, I noticed thes least terns with fish in their bills standing around another bird. Don't know anything about these birds, but there are thousands of them around the beaches on the MS coast. Curious to know if this is a mating ritual. Any clues?
Posted by Drew Fulton on April 19, 2010 at 8:30 PM
Bill,
Many species of birds, including Least Terns, practice ritual feeding as part of their courtship. I have witnessed and photographed Least Terns doing this myself. The basic idea is the male goes and catches a fish, returns and feeds the female sitting on the beach, and then goes back for another fish. Sometimes the male won't even land but feed the female while still in flight. Eventually, the pair will copulate if the female is satisfied.
My guess here is that two males are competing for a female. The female is in a rather submissive posture but I doubt she is offering herself for a copulation considering there are two males present. I have not previously seen two males competing in this manner but I am not surprised at the behavior at all.
Discussion
1 repliesMany species of birds, including Least Terns, practice ritual feeding as part of their courtship. I have witnessed and photographed Least Terns doing this myself. The basic idea is the male goes and catches a fish, returns and feeds the female sitting on the beach, and then goes back for another fish. Sometimes the male won't even land but feed the female while still in flight. Eventually, the pair will copulate if the female is satisfied.
My guess here is that two males are competing for a female. The female is in a rather submissive posture but I doubt she is offering herself for a copulation considering there are two males present. I have not previously seen two males competing in this manner but I am not surprised at the behavior at all.
Nice image by the way.
Drew