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The ruff, a very unusual sandpiper, is famous among birders and behavioral biologists for its lek breeding system. In a lek, groups of males get together and display vigorously; females come to leks and pick a particular male to mate with. The ruff breeding system is even more complicated than that of most lekking species. Some males defend small territories, while others are non-territorial 'satellite' birds that hang around territorial males and solicit copulations from visiting females. There is an enormous diversity of color and pattern among males, with the ruff feathers ranging from white to black with various reddish and purple shades in between. Females are plain brownisn, and recently it has been discovered that some males are female mimics, using their female-like plumage to get close to aggressive males to 'steal' matings. Ruffs breed in northern Europe and Asia and winter far to the south These birds, most of which have not completed the molt into full breeding plumage, were photographed in flooded meadows in Biebrza National Park in northeast Poland. Thousands of ruffs were present in Biebrza in late April 2009, when the photos were taken. Nearly all move farther north and east to nest. |
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