We’ve started Round 2 of our experiments, measuring how responsive males are to differences in the behavior of the robot female. We want to see if we can explain some of the variation we see in how hard males are working on the lek, and one of the things we would like to know is the importance of female interest- if a female is disinterested, should a male work harder to try to win her over, or cut his losses and save his energy for the next potential mate? Does it matter what his expectation is for another female visit, and how successful he is?

Below you can see a clip of the disinterested behavior- the robot is simulating pecking at the ground. Real females frequently do this on the lek as well. This clip is from Cottontail, but we finished our second treatment on Monument Lek this morning. Chugwater will require one more experiment, and Cottontail will probably require two or three.

I love this video, not only for showing off the great job Gail has done getting the robot to look realistic, but also for the funny chasing behavior occuring in the foreground. A non-territorial male ambles from left to right, and just as he reaches the right edge of the screen, he must spot an angry territory holder. He walks quickly back to the left, and just as he leaves the screen, a fully inflated male comes sprinting across.