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Jikke Bird

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Made for the monthly contest at :iconspec-evo-club:, the group I founded. The theme was sexual dimorphism!

Female Jikke (Pronounced "Chike") Birds are relatively mundane looking, having a dull brown coat and not much else. Males look rather similar until mating season arrives. The Jikke live in warmish areas and lay their eggs mid-winter. The eggs hatch in the spring when there are plenty of resources for the hatchlings to eat. The first 5 years of its life, baby Jikke birds are cared for by their parents, who catch food for, provide protection for, and guard the chicks (of usually about 3-5). Near the end of the 5 years, the chicks grow a brown coat - regardless of gender - and shed their previous grey one. At this time the parents teach them to catch food. Soon after, having reached maturity, the chicks leave their parents care. This happens at the ending of summer. The males, when mating season arrives (usually a few weeks after they leave)  receive a surplus of growth hormones. These give it a ridiculously long beak, a permanently erected, bright-red pouch, and a bright brown coat with distinct black markings. This happens around starting of autumn/fall. 

During the mating season (autumn/fall), female Jikkes sparsely dot the landscape. They wait patiently, sometimes for days, for males to arrive. During this time, males try to find the nearest female and then crowd around her. After a few days, when there are about 5-10 males surrounding a female, the males start dueling with their beaks in a sparring match. The female does not only take into consideration the length of beak and brightness of pouch and coat when choosing a mate, but also how long they can stay standing up during these sparring matches. The males go one-on-one and after each round the winners of each team duel the other winners. The losers get chased away or flee, sometimes to look for another female and sneak into a duel. This continues until the last one standing remains. At the end usually 2-3 males remain, one winner and a few others of the females choice. The female chooses a mate from this bunch and the rest of the males leave. Rematches are rare but still an occurrence. 

Te female copulates with the male at the end of autumn/fall and lays her eggs mid-winter. The males shed their beaks and the pouch settles after copulation. The cycle starts again.
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Crazygeckos's avatar
Is there more then one genus?