By Alison Mitchell
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Step outside and listen to the singing birds, admire the blooming flowers or lean down and take a closer look at buzzing and crawling pollinators. There’s so much to see, hear, and take in. But why is spring such a time of natural abundance?
It’s all about reproduction, of course.
Many New Jersey creatures take part in remarkable behaviors to attract partners in the spring. They are the foundation of much of the procreation in the natural world. You may have already noticed the increase in the high-pitched songs of (mostly) male songbirds calling out in the hopes of attracting female counterparts.
Not only do birds sing to attract mates, they also (often) show off colorful feathers and participate in elaborate mating rituals. Group displays are known as leks, gatherings of male birds who perform certain behaviors to attract mates. In New Jersey, groups of male turkeys, also known as toms, form leks in specific locations where they gobble and fluff up and rattle their feathers for admiring females.
The exact criteria females use to eventually choose mates is unknown, but we do know they are expert critics judging by the results.
Mating season in the state extends far beyond birds. Snakes, salamanders, frogs, and other reptiles and amphibians are busy attracting mates in all sorts of interesting ways this time of year. Wood frogs, Southern leopard frogs and green frogs are just a few examples of the amphibians who advertise themselves with calls in spring. Perhaps you’ve heard the mighty, evening chorus of very small spring peeper frogs as you pass their wetland habitats.
Some spring displays are even more dramatic than the peeps and croaks of frogs. Garter snakes, for example, emerge from hibernation in the spring ready to mate. Because females are highly coveted, multiple male garter snakes will band together in a tangled ball with a female in the center. The males wrestle each other out of the way until one lucky snake successfully mates with the female. At this point, the other males lose interest, disentangle and slither away in search of their next chance.
Around New Jersey, animals big and small partake in mating rituals and performative behaviors, from spiders to bobcats. But the natural world is made up of more than animals, of course, and plants have their own springtime mating agenda focused on attracting pollinators and ultimately dispersing seeds.
Before insect pollination evolved, wind pollination was the most common mode of plant reproduction and that continues for many of the plants that still exist today. Pine trees are a prime example, producing trillions of pollen grains that enter the air every spring with hopes of being blown into receptive female trees.
And the brilliant kaleidoscope of colors we see from flowers? Like the colorful plumage displays from birds, flowers are putting on a show for the pollinators, drawing in busy bees and other insects. But alarmingly, bees and other pollinators are in sharp decline. According to “The Guardian,” scientists have ascertained that the climate crisis, habitat loss and pesticide use have badly affected all bees, the vast majority in the U.S. being our 4,000 native, wild species.
Every day, animals and plants reproduce, raise young and live their lives, despite losses in habitat. Let’s support efforts to bring back pollinators and focus on protecting wetlands and other important habitats so we can fall in love with nature every spring.
To learn more about preserving New Jersey’s land and natural resources, visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at njconservation.org or contact us at info@njconservation.org.
