Anup Shah / Lesser flamingos {Phoeniconaias minor} performing 'wing salute' as part of courtship display, the wings are spread out to the side of the body and held in this position for several seconds, making the...

David Tipling / Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) pair displaying at dusk in ritual bonding behaviour, Albatross Island in Bay of Isles, South Georgia January

Danny Green / Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) pair bill rubbing part of courtship ritual, Skomer Island, Wales, UK, May

David Pattyn / Black necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) pair running over the water surface together as a part of their courtship ritual. This early in the breeding season, one of the birds is still in its winter p...

David Pattyn / Black necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) pair performing their courtship ritual. This early in the breeding season one of the grebes is still in its winter plumage. The Netherlands.April 2014

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Chukchi girls, with their family's ancestral clan mark painted in reindeer blood on their face, a ritual during the Chukchi 'Festival of the Young Reindeer' during which young reindeer are sacrificed....

Andrew Parkinson / Gannet (Morus bassanus) breeding pair during part of their elaborate courtship ritual. Saltee Islands, Republic of Ireland, May.

Ben Hall / Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) pair performing courtship display at dawn, backlit with surrounding by mist, Cheshire, UK, March

Ben Lascelles / Prostrator about to perform body-length prostrations over the entire length of the circumambulation around Mount Kailash. The pilgrim bends down, kneels, prostrates full-length, makes a mark with his...

Ben Hall / Great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) performing their elaborate courtship ritual at dawn, Cheshire, UK November

Ben Hall / Great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) performing courtship ritual at dawn, Cheshire, UK April

Pedro Narra / Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) leaping during mating ritual, Sado Estuary, Portugal, October