This time of year is filled with ancient rituals. Rituals that ensure the survival of the natural world. Each spring, as it has for ten’s of thousands of years, and in some species even millions of years, birds and animals strut, sing, show off, chase, cajole, or whatever it takes to find a mate with the sole objective of reproducing. The huge diversity of bird and animal species has lead to a wide variety of ways in which the males prove to the females that they are worthy fathers and that the females are worthy mothers.

All of these spring rituals are all triggered by the amount of available daylight and signals the start of the breeding season. As the world tilts on its axis and the sun slowly get higher in the sky we gain more daylight. With each passing day in spring we gain more daylight. In fact we have gained over 5 hours of daylight since the winter solstice, which is the shortest daylight of the year, back in December.

The amount of daylight is called the photo-period. The photo-period is what indicates or triggers the mating response in birds and animals. In the case of the mammals they perceive the daylight through their eyes and is passed onto the brain. We humans are the same way. We feel different at this time of year because of the amount of daylight we perceive with our eyes. Birds on the other hand perceive daylight directly into their brains through their skulls. A direct signal to the brain from the outside world if you will.

Once the brain has been informed of the amount of daylight, it triggers hormones to be released that flow though the animals or birds body that awakens the reproductive organs which lay dormant for most of the year. Unlike humans, most animals and birds can only mate during a brief period of time each spring. That is not true for all birds and animals but it is true for most.

Once the reproductive organs are up and running, the mating rituals begin. In the bird world, the males are the ones all dressed up to impress. The males of many bird species have brightly colored feathers that are designed to do one thing—communicate to the female that he is good and strong with a abundant food supply within his territory. In addition the males augment their brightly colored feathers with songs. Bird songs are as ancient as their bird species that are singing the songs. Many songbirds have been around for hundreds of thousands of years.

Songbirds are a specialized group of birds that have wonderful complex songs that usually only the male sings. There are a few species that break the rules and both the male and female sing, such as the Northern Cardinal. But in general it’s usually just the male that sings.

Birds that are not songbirds such as the Wild Turkey don’t sing a song at all. They rely on visual display to show that the male is a strong healthy bird and worth mating with. He will fan out his tail feathers, droop his wings so the wingtips are dragging on the ground and puff up his iridescent body feathers to impress the gals. He even has large patches of exposed skin around his head that change color from red to blue and white.

Male turkeys give a hissing and popping noise over and over as he tries to maneuver himself in front of the females in his group so they can get a good look at his magnificence. Only when the females are ready to nest will they pay him any attention and allow mating. The actual mating is brief but the courtship goes on for weeks. While he waits for her readiness, he will strut around and around so she won’t forget he is ready.

Strutting male turkeys is a ritual that I look forward to seeing and photographing each spring. In my mind it’s an ancient ritual that indicates spring. I can spend hours watching the males do their thing. I get a sense of security and permanence and that all is right in nature when I see this ancient dance.

For you the rituals of spring may be the singing of a male robin or the mate chasing of the Eastern Gray Squirrel in your backyard. Cottontail rabbits will also chase each other across your lawn and jump high into the air for their mating ritual. No mater what the spring ritual, remember these are important aspects to a healthy environment and it’s a ritual that ensures these birds and animals will be around for many more generations, but only when the sun climbs high into the spring sky. Until next time…