Many creatures show amazing discernment choosing nesting sites for safety, or choosing between food sources for superior protein content, or choosing their mate for health, according to their brighter feathers and louder song.
This is the Vogelkop Bowerbird – from Indonesia. He is an unremarkable male, with his plain, brown feathers. A female might disregard him entirely for his attire. But he attracts his mate by dazzling her. He builds the most remarkable bower of all – and decorates by choosing adornments by colour, and shine. He places them just so – stands back and re-adjusts, tries another arrangement and starts all over again until he is satisfied. He is an artist.
Vogelkop Bowerbird
Before his bower,
a pyramid of orchid stems
supported by pillars,
appointed by
blue and plum berries
plucked with delicate precision
and displayed precisely
beside sprays
of pink blossom,
a shiny pile pf
purple-grey beetle wings
and one perfect
crimson petal,
the plainest bowerbird
proudly places
himself.
Liz Brownlee
This poem is in Animal Magic, IRON PRESS, 2012
Poetry Roundabout 