January 15, 2007

Manakins are small jungle birds whose males make clicking and humming noises with their wings as part of an elaborate courtship ritual. But it's their smokin' dance moves that really get the ladies.
posted by hillbillyswamp 17 years ago
  • I know I haven't done much to raise the whole FPP quality quotient here, but I laughed like an idiot at this.
  • 2nd link, lol goodness. I sure hope it is actual footage.
  • It is -- it's from "Nature." Shoulda mentioned that. We saw it on PBS last night.
  • sure, they can dance...but, more importantly, what do they they taste like?
  • I should take notes for next weekend. But, if you sing well, it doesn't matter if you can't dance.
  • hillbillyswamp: great find! xenmate: your blog is outstanding. It's going to take me a year or two two sample all you've piled up there, so I've bookmarked it. spede: good link, and the lyre bird outdoes our US mockingbirds, though one who used to serenade me at midnight every night did frogs, parakeets and an attempt at human speech patterns, as well as other birds. But, Finns are pretty rare in my world. Is there any chance you could give us posts on Finland? The only Finn I've ever spoken to at length was an adventurer. Is that common?
  • Great vid, hillbillyswamp. Trouble is now my parrot wants to know where he can get lessons.
  • Yay! People like my post! And xenmate, I laughed like a whole freaking crowd (flock?) of idiots at your link. I'm pretty sure I knew that last guy in junior high.
  • Wonderful post, Swampie! (may I call you Swampie, or do you prefer the more formal Mr. Swamp?) Anyway, I'm ready to go out and party like a maniac manakin.
  • path, I accept the honor of becoming the official Finnish monkey correspondent. I'll try to dig up something interesting. But, the gay porn career of a favorite contestant in the Finnish Idol (or Idols, as we call it) does not count as interesting, for example.
  • Dear Manakin Dance Institute, I used to be a go-nowhere square with no girl and even less style. Thanks to your "Get Budgie With It" video, I am now the most popular guy at the nightclubs, and I've always got a bird on the wing! Thank you for a wonderful product! Yours, Mr. P.B. Flappincuff, actor, light filing work
  • Ms. Swamp if you're nasty... but otherwise Swampie's all right. :)
  • That bird doesn't look anything like Kim Cattrall.
  • That video was excellent! The other day at the Zoo I walked in on two yellow-breasted ground doves displaying to one another. The male then walked up to me and slowly raised his wings. I imitated the move using my arms. He eyeballed me and did the wing-raising thing again, so I followed suit. We continued doing this till I noticed a family of four had walked in and were staring at the weird girl dancing with the bird. Later, I mentioned to a keeper that I'd seen the doves displaying. "Oh," she said, "they're really too old to be doing that." "Why, how long do doves live?" "In captivity, ten years or so." "And how old are these?" "Thirteen." Conclusion: Doves are cool.
  • Pallas and a geriatric dove sittin' in a tree...