Bowerbirds | Ptilonorhynchidae

Prieelvogels | Pergoleros

The bower is not a nest. It is a structure of sticks on the ground where mating alone takes place, maintained in the same spot year after year. Two forms occur: an avenue of two upright walls through which the female looks, and a tower of sticks around a sapling. In front of the bower a collection of objects is laid out, each species in its own colour — blue, white, green, or glass and plastic from the human world — and that collection is sorted, guarded and stolen from the neighbours. The Satin Bowerbird paints the inner walls with a paste of chewed plant matter, applied with a wad of bark. The Great Bowerbird graduates its objects by size, small near the entrance and large beyond, which falsifies the perspective seen from the avenue. The female builds the nest, incubates and feeds alone; young males take years to reach adult plumage and practise meanwhile on untidy bowers of their own.