These pictures were taken on January 31st, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Mercedes Texas. This is a mating ritual that seemed to be initiated by the female. The female stands perfectly still, leaning forward and pointing with her beak which sometimes has its tip in the water. The male then goes from side to side dipping his beak in the water on each side and always crossing over behind the female. He does this about 10 to 15 times before mounting the female. When the mating is finished they walk with crossed bills for a couple steps with the males wing draped over her back. This can be seen in the second and third last pictures although her bill isn't visible. This ritual was very beautiful and I think my favourite picture is the last one where they walk away together.
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7 comments:
Great pictures and it's nice he cuddled with her some afterwards :)
You got some awesome photos of the stilts, Fred. Very nice. I love those birds, so delicate!
Great catch ... nice that he looks her in the eye. :-)
You got really lucky! Great shots,well achieved....My favourite is second last from the bottom:)
Great photos, thanks for sharing. Thanks for returning the Hummer feeder to it's original condition, lol :-)
Good dispatch and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you as your information.
AS everyone else said, great work.. incredible picture story.
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