TY - JOUR UR - https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3987 DO - 10.7717/peerj.3987 TI - Visual and acoustic components of courtship in the bird-of-paradise genus Astrapia (Aves: Paradisaeidae) AU - Scholes,Edwin AU - Gillis,Julia M. AU - Laman,Timothy G. A2 - Hedrick,Ann DA - 2017/11/08 PY - 2017 KW - Display behavior KW - Visual signaling KW - Acoustic signaling KW - Video analysis KW - New Guinea KW - Courtship phenotype AB - The distinctive and divergent courtship phenotypes of the birds-of-paradise make them an important group for gaining insights into the evolution of sexually selected phenotypic evolution. The genus Astrapia includes five long-tailed species that inhabit New Guinea’s montane forests. The visual and acoustic components of courtship among Astrapia species are very poorly known. In this study, we use audiovisual data from a natural history collection of animal behavior to fill gaps in knowledge about the visual and acoustic components of Astrapia courtship. We report seven distinct male behaviors and two female specific behaviors along with distinct vocalizations and wing-produced sonations for all five species. These results provide the most complete assessment of courtship in the genus Astrapia to date and provide a valuable baseline for future research, including comparative and evolutionary studies among these and other bird-of-paradise species. VL - 5 SP - e3987 T2 - PeerJ JO - PeerJ J2 - PeerJ SN - 2167-8359 ER -