On Fri, Jan 09, 2004 at 09:36:41AM -0800, Kathy Andrich wrote:
> Hi Mike and Tweeters,
>
> What is a hummingbird lek? I have heard of grouse
> lek's but not hummingbird ones. I assume a lot of
> male birds are involved and the female chooses from
> the bunch. [snip]

I don't think the female has much "choice" in the matter of selecting
a mate. After many years of watching hummers, it appears that the
process goes something like this for Rufous hummers:

- male does "tail waggle" in front of female who is usually perched
low in a bush.
- female goes into some kind of trance watching male.
- when female seems sufficiently stupified, male rushes in and mounts
her.

The whole mounting process takes no more than 1 or 2 seconds if that.
I think the selection process taking place at the "leks" is one of a
battle between prospective successful males only rather than the
female choosing a mate.

I have also witnessed this with Costs's Hummingbirds in Arizona.

--
Jack Bowling Prince George, BC mailto: jbinpg at shaw.ca