Marie Read / Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) pair performing post-copulatory display (as copulation ends, the male slides off the female leaving his wings draped over her and crossing his bill with hers...

Mark MacEwen / Northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi), early pairing behaviour, Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. Endangered.

Marie Read / Black terns (Chlidonias niger), pair on a perch, vocalizing during courtship (termed 'Erect Posture' display), Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, New York, USA, May.

Roger Powell / Four rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) courting and pairing on a branch. Werribee, Victoria, Australia.

Roger Powell / Five rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) courting & pairing on a branch. Werribee, Victoria, Australia.

Roger Powell / Five rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) courting & pairing on a branch. Werribee, Victoria, Australia.

Marie Read / Black-necked sStilt (Himantopus mexicanus) pair building nest in shallow wetland: male in foreground is squatting and pushing backwards with his feet/legs to form a nest scrape in vegetation the pair...

Marie Read / Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) pair building nest in shallow wetland, male in foreground in squatting and pushing backwards with his feet/legs to form a nest scrape in vegetation the pair...

Marie Read / American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) pair performing post-copulatory display (as copulation ends, the male slides off the female leaving his wings draped over her and crossing his bill with hers,...

Marie Read / American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana), pair copulating, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah, USA, May.

Mark MacEwen / Northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi), early pairing behaviour, Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. Endangered.

Mark MacEwen / Northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi), early pairing behaviour, Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand, Endangered.