For some birds the highlight of the year is coming to an end these days. Lekking birds, such as these Black Grouses in Bergen, have fought every night for more than a month to get the opportunity to handle a female close.
Lekking is a costly activity, and the fights are not for sissies. Last night I observed six lekking Black Grouse males, and all of them were missing feathers in their faces and necks as well as having broken flight-feathers. Some of them carried out their courtship behaviour, including a few gratuitous fights just to stress the point of still hanging about the lek. Most of the time from the start at 10 pm until midnight, they were preening and occupying their favorite patches. I suppose the participants soon will blend into the vegetation, and stay more or less invisible until next spring. These pictures were taken with higs iso-values about the time when the sun went down, hence the warm colors.
Lekking Black Grouse in the spectacular light from a fading sun.
Most of the time the grouses stay immobile on their favorite patch - without displaying.
The birds have damages in their plumage after weeks of fighting.
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