Many common garden species have territorial and mate-forming rituals that are easy to observe in late winter and early spring.
Some displays are accompanied by song – for example, a male greenfinch twittering wheezily on a high perch will often launch, still singing, into a looping ‘butterfly’ flight to impress a watching female. And a male blue tit will deliver a brief trembling trill, before taking off and parachuting towards his mate’s chosen nest site.
Other airborne displays include the theatrical up-then-down flights of male woodpigeons and collared doves, which climax with the birds descending on fanned wings. Courtship feeding is quite widespread, though you’re most likely to see it in robins. But male dunnocks without doubt have some of the strangest displays: rival males face off and use ‘wing semaphore’ to settle territorial disputes.
Here are four common breeding rituals to look out for:
1. Male greenfinches (above) have a bat- or butterfly-like display. They slow-flap a treetop circuit, pitching from side to side while singing.
Discover more amazing facts about greenfinches.
2. When a female robin finishes building a nest, her mate starts feeding her to reinforce the pair bond and help her to form eggs. He offers food – up to a few dozen times a day – throughout the incubation period.
3. Male blue tits often perform an exaggerated, gradually descending glide on outstretched wings in the vicinity of their nestbox or nesthole.
4. Male dunnocks competing for territories lift up and hold their wings, either one at a time or both together.
Discover more about garden birds in spring with our handy guides:
Find out how to entice a variety of bird species into your garden.
