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Flying Casanovas
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Program Overview
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NOVA follows David Attenborough through the forests of Australia and
New Guinea, tracking and observing the unique mating practices of
male bowerbirds, which arrange inanimate objects and build intricate
structures to attract females.
The program:
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shows how bowerbirds build a bower by gathering and arranging
leaves, twigs, insect leaves, feathers, flowers, and other
objects, and how they behave in the presence of a female.
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documents the wide variety of bower-building practices, from
simple arrangements of leaves to elaborate decorative displays
and enormous structures.
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presents several instances of mating behavior, in which the
female approaches and inspects the bower, and the male sings and
displays his plumage and treasures.
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captures footage of thievery and vandalism by rival bowerbirds
possibly attempting to detract from the appearance of their
neighbors' bowers.
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raises questions about the possibility that these birds possess
a true artistic and aesthetic sense, based on their apparent
care and deliberation in building their bowers.
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