Courtship behaviors in birds are often considered male-specific, as males compete for mates through displays that exhibit individual quality. Several courtship displays have been described for male Northern Cardinals including the complex song-dance display. We observed female cardinals performing the song-dance display on two separate occasions in south Mississippi within pre-breeding and breeding periods. Female performance of the display was very similar as reported for males. Given the behavioral attributes of cardinal mating pairs, it is plausible that bi-directional mate choice exists for this species and females are demonstrating aspects of individual quality to males through the song-dance display. Additional monitoring of courtship behavior is needed to determine the function of female performance display that was previously thought to be male specific.
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1 June 2014
Female Performance of Male Courtship Display in Northern Cardinals
M. Susan DeVries,
Caitlin P. Winters,
Jodie M. Jawor
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Southeastern Naturalist
Vol. 13 • No. 2
June 2014
Vol. 13 • No. 2
June 2014