Courtship of the bower birds

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32661, 17 July 1971, Page 4

Courtship of the bower birds

Though the courtship rituals of many birds have been recorded very few photographers 'have tried to film those of the bower birds and their near relatives; the birds of ■ paradise, largely because they are among the most secretive of all. . It would take more than this, however, to daunt Heinz Sielmann, the great German film maker, and when he decided to tackle the subject he did so with the skill and thoroughness that have given him his international reputation. The result is “The Secret Bowers,” a documentary on CHTV3’s programme on July 25. The “bowers” from which the birds get their name, are not nests, but constructions built by the male for the sole purpose of attracting the female for mating. They are elaborate affairs over which the males take tremendous trouble, sometimes adding drops of their own saliva, flowers and bright berries to improve the. decor. Four types of bowers are shown in the film, some being carefully arranged and re-arranged by the males till they get them looking exactly as they want them to do. In fact, one bird actually steps back to study his handiwork, rather as an artist does when painting. After dark, when the birds

have gone to their nests, other form of Australian ivildlife emerge, and koalas, echidnas, wombats and many other forms of Australian part in this fascinating film, remarkable in monochrome and breathtaking in colour. (ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT) R. MACKAY: The complaint is defined in the Oxford dictionary as “a disease of the nervous system.”