Lekking

A lek is a gathering of male animals that display competitively and perform courtship rituals, called lekking, to attract females who visit to evaluate prospective mates. It is most familiar among birds such as black grouse, but also occurs in bony fish including Atlantic cod, cichlids, and desert pupfish, in some frogs, in reptiles such as marine iguanas, in mammals including bats, some bovines, and pinnipeds, and in arthropods such as fiddler crabs, wasps, bees, butterflies, moths, and flies. Classical leks pack male territories close enough that neighbors stay within sight and sound of each other, with the most dominant males holding the central positions that draw the most females; exploded leks, exemplified by the kakapo parrot, space territories kilometers apart while males stay in contact through far-carrying calls. In both arrangements, females visit and choose based on what they observe, while males compete for the best positions through display and combat.