Buff-breasted Sandpiper courtship display
In the extreme northern arctic of Alaska and Canada, in the grassy tundra of the coastal plain lives the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. The Buffy, as they are often called, looks like no other Sandpiper in North America with golden plumage flecked with spots and scallops of white and black, matching the dry, blond grasses of the low tundra of their summer homes. Buffies are the only North American Sandpiper with a lek mating strategy, with males gathering to display to females on flat tundra courts. The display, and occasional copulation with visiting females, represents the entirety of the investment into breeding made by males. Displays begin with a vigorous upswept wing, flashing the bright white underside, attracting the attention of females from a distance. If attention is secured and she approaches, both wings are dramatically flashed, he tips back on bent legs, puffs out the chest, pointing the bill upwards with clicking vocalizations and mechanical brushing sounds from the wings. Females inspect the dance and the quality of his finely patterned plumage and if all looks right the display will result in a copulation - if not, the female will move on to view the displays of other nearby males.
Watch this video (with the sound ON) created from a sequence of photos of the dramatic two-winged display of a male Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I have looped the sequence back to back to give you a chance to check out the amazing detail in these frames. The beautiful audio track was recorded by Gerrit Vyn at a different time and place with a large parabolic microphone. Listen for the sounds of wing feather movement and the amazing clicking vocalizations as the male performs his display to a nearby female.