Display
Performing elaborate courtship dances, vocal displays, and plumage presentations to communicate genetic fitness.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Peru's national bird: males court with synchronized moves and pig-like calls, and the female raises the chicks alone.
Blue-Footed Booby
Bright blue webbed feet, a high-stepping courtship walk, and plunge-dives that hit the water at up to 60 mph.
Common Eastern Firefly
A beetle whose males trace a J of light at dusk and bleed defensive steroids when attacked.
Frilled Lizard
Australian dragon lizard that flares a bone-and-cartilage neck frill to startle predators, and if the bluff fails, runs off on its hind legs.
Indian Peafowl
Iridescent member of the pheasant family whose feathers get their color from a two-dimensional photonic crystal, and whose train rattles out a broadband, pulsating sound.
Magnificent Frigatebird
A seabird whose feathers aren't waterproof, riding wings up to eight feet across and mugging other birds for their catch.
Mute Swan
Not actually mute: it hisses, snorts and twirls with its wings raised.
Sandhill Crane
A red-capped crane that duets with its mate and sleeps standing in the shallows.
Springbok
A gazelle-like antelope that bounces on stiff legs and flares a hidden crest of white hair.
Wild Turkey
Gobbles heard up to a mile away, flight at up to 54 mph