Communication to start a relationship with someone or to get sexual contact
Male blackbuck , Antilope cervicapra , courting a female
A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate exercises choice , so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ("dances "), vocalizations , mechanical sound production, or displays of beauty, strength, or agonistic ability .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
^ Girard, Madeline B.; Kasumovic, Michael M.; Elias, Damian O. (2011). "Multi-modal courtship in the peacock spider, Maratus volans (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874)" . PLOS ONE . 6 (9): e25390. Bibcode :2011PLoSO...625390G . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0025390 . PMC 3181266 . PMID 21980440 .
^ Riede, Tobias; Forstmeier, Wolfgang; Kempenaers, Bart; Goller, Franz (2015). "The functional morphology of male courtship displays in the Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)". The Auk . 132 : 65–77. doi :10.1642/AUK-14-25.1 . S2CID 86155377 .
^ Koch, Rebecca E.; Krakauer, Alan H.; Patricelli, Gail L. (2015). "Investigating female mate choice for mechanical sounds in the male Greater Sage-Grouse" (PDF) . The Auk . 132 (2): 349–358. doi :10.1642/auk-14-63.1 . S2CID 30509108 .
^ Beauchamp, A. J. (2014). "Calling and display by peacocks (pavo cristatus) at mansion house historic reserve, kawau island, New Zealand" (PDF) . Notornis . 61 (1): 27–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2018-02-13 .
^ Martin, A. R.; Da Silva, V. M F; Rothery, P. (2008). "Object carrying as socio-sexual display in an aquatic mammal" . Biology Letters . 4 (3): 243–245. doi :10.1098/rsbl.2008.0067 . PMC 2610054 . PMID 18364306 .
^ Lim, Matthew L. M.; Li, Daiqin (2004). "Courtship and male-male agonistic behaviour of Cosmophasis umbratica Simon, an ornate jumping spider (Araneae: Salticidae) from Singapore" (PDF) . Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . 52 (2): 435–448.