Dance
By: Kadyn Moore
Brief Description
Many animals have mate-selection courtship rituals. Animal courtship may involve complicated dances or touching, vocalizations, or displays of beauty or fighting prowess. One animal whose courtship rituals are well studied is the bowerbird, whose male builds a "bower" of collected objects. Another is the Great Crested Grebe, whose courtship dances were first described by Julian Huxley. In cases like the Great Crested Grebe, the pairs form life or at least long-lasting partnerships. In that case there are also pair-bonding dances throughout the mating season, and through the whole period of raising the young. If pairs get separated, there are exceptionally vigorous dances when they come together. There are a number of "dance routines", which occur in the different circumstances of life. All this behaviour is inherited, though the individual bird remembers the place and the partner permanently.