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Que signifie la curieuse parade du fauconnet à collier Microhierax caerulescens (L.) ?

1990; Volume: 45; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3406/revec.1990.2003

0249-7395

Roland Eve,

African Botany and Ecology Studies

The strange courtship performance of two pairs of collared falconets Microhierax caerulescens is described. Instead of the courtship feeding, frequent among falcons, male collared falconets repeatedly « offer » a dry leaf to their mate. To collect the leaves, males use their normal hunting technique : dashing in, snatching the leaf in their talons, and circling back to the female. Females apparently do not pay much attention to these leaf offerings, but at one occasion a female with nestlings was seen holding a piece of dry leaf during copulation.