The
Dunnock is a very promiscuous bird however the male wants to guarantee his
parentage of any offspring resulting from the union of any female. The male,
positioned behind the female, will then hop from side to side before pecking at
the female's cloaca and this may continue for several minutes. The cloaca may become pink and swollen. As it
swells, it makes strong pumping movements and this results in the ejection of
sperm from any previous mating attempts. In this way, a male can increase his
chances of fathering any young. This video was taken through a window looking into my garden and of course they decided to do this under a table!
If the video does not appear, CLICK HERE.
Full copulation took place behind a flower pot but I am pleased I have been able to video this pre -copulation part.
Many thanks for visiting and also to those who leave comments.
I've never seen that before. Are they the only birds who do that? I know others mate guard to guarentee paternity. Fascinating stuff. Looks rather painful!
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, I first thought (from your title) this was one of those posts I get periodically about the sexual exploits of "so-and-so"! Glad I visiting. This fascinating and well done on videoing it. On another note: please could you check to see if my post called "Steppe Buzzard" has appeared on your dashboard? I posted it this morning and can view it, but not visible on my dashboard. I also cannot find the links to meme's anymore. I wonder if this is something wrong from my side. Thanks for helping...
ReplyDeleteThe dunnocks are regular visitors to our garden but I have never seen this behaviour
ReplyDeleteSigh. I suppose it is an improvement on the habit's of lions who simply kill young which aren't theirs. Hard on the females though.
ReplyDeleteWell that made a change from Wildebeests to go with my porridge.
ReplyDeleteHello Margaret, amazing video and sighting. I feel sorry for the female. Happy Wednesday, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that is a first for me! Totally amazing video.
ReplyDeleteHow unusual! Thank goodness we humans weren't designed with that reproductive trait.
ReplyDeleteWell captured Margaret, I've obviously read about this behavior but have never witnessed it...and now I have, thank you...[;o)
ReplyDeleteFascinating! It's like homemade Discovery channel-awesome! I too am glad we don't have to worry about guys pecking at our lady parts to get previous copulation results ejected-but quite clever I must say and EC's right, better than killing off offspring that ain't yers!
ReplyDeleteAmazing behaviour and video, Margaret! Gives a whole new meaning to pecking order!
ReplyDeleteWe have our own rituals both in reproduction and in politics... Very good video, Margaret.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, what a show! Very interesting though.
ReplyDelete