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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The Old City of Bern
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A whale of a picture
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Flock online for the Great Backyard Bird Count
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Travel Sunday: Liverpool
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In the Himalayas for International Mountain Day
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Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!
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Replica of a Viking home in Dublin National Botanic Gardens, Ireland
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Crown Fountain by Jume Plensa at Millennium Park in Chicago
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Big-wave hunters watch Nazaré
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Evidence of human habitation
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Basking in the glow
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The Aomori Nebuta Festival parade, Japan
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Oud-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Earth Day and National Park Week
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Fashion models of the avian world
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Independence Day
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Great on so many levels
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And they’re off!
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Why, aloe there
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The largest American bison around
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Bonifacio on the island of Corsica, France
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With leaves this tasty, who cares about a view?
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Farmers Day
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Tolkien Reading Day
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Rock House in Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio
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Happy birthday to Crater Lake National Park
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Bryce Canyon National Park turns 100
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A stroll above the stratosphere
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Mexican giant cardon cactus
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Take the Stairs Day