Bird designer

In Australia and New Guinea, there is a wonderful birdie called Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae). The males of these birds build huts for themselves, and then decorate them in every way.



Inside and near the huts, they have, and moreover, orderly, hundreds of bright objects: shells, leaves, flowers, covers, glass and other decorations. Males spend hours working on the design of their buildings.
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But why are they doing all this? Yes, for the same reason that men do everything in the world, Jen - to sleep with a lady!

The continuation of the story, pictures and entertaining video - under the cut.



So, the male lures the female into a hut, and then mates with her in the most impudent manner. At the same time, the birds themselves do not live in huts.

Their buildings have a similar shape, but with different variants and “styles” of decorations. It is noted that male individuals are trying to pick up just such combinations of gizmos that women will definitely like.



Victor Papanek writes:

“The scientist who studied the shalashnik most thoroughly, A.J. Marshall, [...] was forced to admit that the birds simply like their pavilions; that construction goes beyond simple functionality; and that when decorating arbors, they show a clear legibility, which can be called an aesthetic choice. ”



“One American collector, who had never been interested in bungalows and had never even seen a single building while traveling around New Guinea, unexpectedly came out into a clearing, neatly tidy in an area of ​​about four square feet. Next to this clearing was a hat-shaped arbor about three feet high and five feet wide, with a door one foot high. „



“This strange construction was turned by a“ facade ”on a cleared area. There was an impression of a house with a lawn; it was supported by several flower or fruit beds. Just under the door was a neat bed of yellow berries. Next on the lawn was a bed of blue berries. A little further to the side lay ten freshly picked flowers. ” Later, this traveler saw how the "architect" returned to the gazebo. "



“First of all, he noticed a match, carelessly thrown into the center of the clearing cleared by him. He jumped to the match, picked it up and, shaking his head, threw it out of the site. "



“The traveler collected several pink and yellow flowers and one red orchid and put them on the lawn. Soon the bird came back and flew straight to these flowers. She took all the yellow flowers and threw them out. Then, after some hesitation, she removed the pink ones. Finally, she took an orchid, deciding not to throw it away, and for some time transferred the flower from one slide of her jewelry to another, until she found a place where the orchid looked particularly impressive. „



I don’t see these screenshots from YouTube videos. It shows a very similar process. Unfortunately, you cannot embed this clip, so here's a link for you:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbWJPsBPdA

So, does the behavior of bowerbirds have something in common with the endless human desire to organize and decorate everything around? Is design a function of the mind or a hypertrophied animal instinct for the survival of a species?