mating behavior

[Ellamumu]

Heres a question for the bird breeders, how long does the male emu continue his mating behavior? My 2 year old male has been doing his mating dance since December and he is still trying to mate with my husband and my mother, he never does this to me (not that I'm jealous lol) I lay out in the hay pile and he comes and lays cuddled up to me and goes to sleep all happy, but everyone else he pushes on and tries to mate with. Should this behavior stop soon with the changing of the season?

 

[ES Emus]

Can' t help you with that, we try to pair up all of our mature males. I do have a female who is still strutting and drumming, but she is not hitting me! lol

 

[briefvisit]

Hey, Ellamumu! I have some thoughts from my place:

the season we observed Boy Emu's entire incubation was the season in which two females (Greedy and Felicity) fought for command. I was privileged to hear months of night-time vocalisations that winter.

So, the pairing-up begins in late summer. Pairs are staking out territory by mid autumn. Mating can begin with winter.

Here's the interesting thing, though:

right into late winter, the females here would talk to males before dawn. They were definite 'conversations.' Then, an hour after dawn, a male would arrive in the house-clearing.

My theory is: there are first-, second-, and third-string males. Strong males are sitting on eggs early on. The second stringers are those who mate with the females right after the first consort sits. The third stringers are males not strong enough to make the grade, but they continue trying until almost spring to mate and sit.

We have one observation of a clutch that hatched six or eight weeks after the normal time (cold micro-climate)

se

 

[Ellamumu]

Well I hope he stops it soon, I'm sick of hearing my husband yell " get your bird off of me" LOL

 

[briefvisit]

And the bird? Perhaps it's thinking, 'Bet I could do better out back of Oudman's block!'

se

 

[Ellamumu]

se , my bird would be laughed right off your block, he won't touch his strawberries unless they're sliced and he drags a small fleece blanket around and lays on it. LOL

 

[briefvisit]

Ella, that is funny.

I have thought about this. It would be so so very educational to bring such a bird here; and release it; and just watch its first interactions with other birds

(and the space, Ella. Your bird (and its little fleece blanket . . . ) would find itself standing at Stinky Creek. Check this:



Note that there are no towns between Rocky Gully and Quinninup and Bow Bridge and Narrikup. That's because there's nothing there except bush. The roads marked are dirt tracks.

It's a drizzly autumn morning here right now. My desk faces south from Rocky Gully. There isn't a house for fifty miles in that direction. Eric and Mrs Noo-Eric are just hangin' out.

Your bird would meet ten thousand emus.

se

 

[Ellamumu]

June 20th and El is still doing his weird mating thing to my husband. Anyone else ever have this issue?