Spring is lekking season for the black grouse. In the early morning, the male birds, like this fancy fella in Finland, gather on lek sites, often a patch of open ground, to put on a show for the ladies in the audience. The guys flash their white tail feathers, utter cooing and hissing noises, flutter-jump, and pick fights with each other—all to demonstrate their dominance to the watching hens. (Hens are smaller and have gray-brown feathers.) When a hen picks out the male she likes, the two fly off to mate and then go their separate ways. Love connections are brief in the black grouse world.
I m here! Take a look at me!
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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World Bee Day
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Inhale and exhale, it’s Yoga Day
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Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
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A peek at an explosive peak
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Sutherland Falls in Fiordland National Park
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Diamond Beach, Iceland
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Amelia Earhart
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Skyscraper Day
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Grand Teton National Park
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A giant relic in Java
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American Wetlands Month
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Shhh, the movie is about to start
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World Bee Day
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A light at the edge of the world
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International Archaeology Day
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Tafilalet oasis in Morocco
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A long, erratic commute
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Diving into the underwater nirvana
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Burrowing owls
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National Park Service anniversary
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It s National Mushroom Month!
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Diwali
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Humpback whales in Maui, Hawaii
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In the Himalayas for International Mountain Day
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Why do elephants hide in trees?
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Happy Arbor Day!
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20 years later
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Mute swans
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Once upon a time there was a bridge…
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Tigh Mor Trossachs on Loch Achray, Scotland