Courtship

Adult birds generally return to their nesting grounds each mating season. A male claims a territory by singing a distinctive song. He then sings a song that attracts a female. Birds have different courtship rituals. Some use song, while others display colorful plumage. Woodcocks fly upward in a spiral, and birds of paradise do somersaults. Male frigatebirds—large birds with wings that spread wider than 6.6 ft (2 m)—breed in late winter on the coast of tropical islands in the western Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The male perches in a low tree or brush and his red throat pouch inflates like a balloon. Its red color attracts females hovering overhead. Then the male spreads his wings, shakes them, and makes a whinnying sound. Finally, the pair come together, mate, and build a nest.