What the Heck is a Lek?
Sage Grouse Lek
Definition of LEK[]
- an assembly area where animals (as the prairie chicken) carry on display and courtship behavior; also : an aggregation of animals assembled on a lek for courtship.Lek. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lek
Examples of Lek[]
Andean Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) is a medium-sized passerine bird of the Cotinga family native to Andean cloud forests in South America.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Cock-of-the-rock.
Groups of males perform intricate vocal, visual or chemical displays to lure receptive females to their lekking site.
Cock-of-The-Rock lek
Example: Kakapo[]
The Kakapo is a type of bird, more specifically, a parrot, and one of the rarest parrots in the world according to Kakapo Recovery. They do not fly, they are the heaviest parrot in the world, found in New Zealand, and they use a mating boom which can be heard for kilometers.
Their breeding behaviors are unique-males can inflate their bodies like a balloon and send a low, boom noise to attract females. Males congregate (in a lek), to compete for females (usually in December).
References:
Breeding | Kakapo Recovery. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://kakaporecovery.org.nz/breeding/
Mating Call (a short animation about Kakapo)
This is a comical, yet interesting animation of Kakapo's in a lek---->
The Unnatural History of the Kakapo - Trailer
The unnatural history of the kakapo