Or perhaps there is a non-sexual pair bonding that takes place in the off
season. To me courtship means sex. The male courts the female for the
purpose of procurring young. (I wish I had my Welty here) But I think
that after the young are gone, (or at least the breeding time is over)
there can still be a pair bonding that occurs. No, I am not being
sentimental. Nor am I a romantic. But if Snow Geese can have group
bonding then perhaps there are various other bonding procedures that can
take place. I remember Dennis Paulson explaining that what seemed like
rather late season courtship or territory defence in Golden Cr. Kinglets
might have been feeding group hierarchy maintenance behavior. (Is that a
great phrase or what?)
So its interesting to ponder what other kinds of communication might be
happening.


Jim



Jim Rosso
Issaquah/Bellingham, Washington
jrosso at mediaseek.com
jlrosso at msn.com
(425) 392-8440