Love is in the water at Cabragh Wetlands

Having received a disappointing number of Valentine cards this year, somewhere between zero and one, I thought I might take a look at the romantic lives of our bird population on the wetlands and perhaps gain some solace from the natural world.
Freshwater birds that spend most of their time out in the open rely heavily on visual displays when attracting a mate, setting up territory or frightening away predators. Ducks and geese, because they are relatively heavy to the size of their wings are ruled out of elaborate aerial displays like that of the snipe whose drumming or shaking of tail feathers above their territory is a feature of Cabragh Wetlands. Aerial displays by ducks are limited to unusual flight such as slow deliberate wing flaps with the neck outstretched. Water based displays are mainly used in courtship and defence of territory and involve every contortion of the bird’s body, even water flicking with its beak. Almost all birds establish a territory in which to attract a mate and breed young. The size of the territory depends on suitable habitat for nesting and availability of food. It varies between species and season. For freshwater birds that usually nest in colonies, like the cormorant, the breeding territory is roughly as far as it can stretch its beak because it can depend on the colony to resist predators when it is away procuring food. The freshwater birds that spend a lot of time on the open water tend to be very aggressive in their defence of territory, posturing with their wings, feet and beaks, sometimes leading to serious injury. Mute swans, moorhens or coots have been known to fight to the death! Those that breed along rivers will strongly defend territory while those within the reedbed rely more on their voices to establish territory and warn others of their presence.
What type of finery do birds wear to attract a mate? The birds who live in the cover of vegetation generally depend on song and as a rule are not brightly coloured. The opposite is the case of those who live on the open water and it is the male ducks that are always in the limelight. Nothing beats the head of the mallard with its green iridescent feathers. The competition for females is so fierce that males not only rely on their bright plumage but they have elaborate courtship displays in which they twist and bend their bodies into all sorts of shapes. Oddly enough, science has shown that the intensity of colour of the male’s beak was one of the most important features for the female when choosing a mate. Perhaps the brighter the beak, the healthier and fitter the male mallard.
After courtship and pairing up, it varies how long different species remain as a pair. The swans and geese tend to form long term bonds-swans rarely separate. Many ducks only pair for one season with very low repeat pairing. Most male ducks have little to do with egg incubation and rearing young and ducks usually split up after the eggs are laid. For most surface feeding ducks, it is the female who selects her partner from the competing males. While as a general rule, ducks, rails and grebes pair for one season, it is another common bird of the wetlands, the reed bunting, that is one of the most famous examples of unfaithful behaviour leading to over 80% of all broods having at least one chick fathered by a different male which actually leads to increased genetic strength.
The most important thing for a bird considering where to nest is the safety of eggs and young. Those that nest on the ground and leave their nests unattended at times rely on camouflage to hide their eggs. Others that leave their eggs exposed tend to have patterns on them that blend into the surroundings. Ducks and geese tend to have plain coloured eggs because they are almost always covered by an incubating adult.
All this can be observed at this time of year at Cabragh Wetlands. We are presently taking bookings for guided walks, and school visits at 0504 43879 or Heritage in Schools at 087 7567273. A series of Environmental Diversity Workshops sponsored by Tipperary County Council begin at Matt the Thresher’s on March 5 and at Cabragh Wetlands on March 6. The theme is “Reducing Food Waste and single use plastic” and the presenter is Albert Nolan. Workshops begin at 7:30 for two hours with more to come in the series.
Slan go foill.
The Tipperary Star - supporting the protection of our local environment in Cabragh Wetlands