Courtship Behaviours of Northern Pintail in River - Combat between Males over a Female

A female of Northern Pintail (Anas acuta, family Anatidae) was tightly surrounded by eight males on the surface of a winter river. The males performed the courtship display toward a female by stretching out their male-specific white necks. And the males often fought fiercely with each other over the nearest position beside her. After the duel, the winner male performed the ritualized bathing and wing-flapping. When the female suddenly took flight, other males instantly followed her en masse. The crucial moments of attack and takeoff were replayed at 5x slow-motion. Captured in the cloudy midafternoon (around 14:55 PM) of early-January 2020 in Japan. For a full story (text in Japanese); https://sigma-nature-vlog.blogspot.com/2020/06/1.html

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