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Article
Seabird Breeding Behaviour

This article has a strong background on the basis of seabird breeding but does not possess examples of seabird breeding group behaviours which this article contribution aims to provide

Pelecanidae
Pelicans form pair bonds that last for a single brooding period until their young leave the nest. This duration varies as length of upbringing and duration before divorce varies between individual pairs. Pelicans perform courtship displays in order to attract female counterparts when part of a breeding colony. Large breeding colonies are formed when courtship flights are observed by other pelicans, indicating that the site is a breeding ground. Breeding colonies break down into smaller groups that consist of a female and two or three males that perform several courtship rituals in order to attract the female to copulate.

Male courtship displays are performed until the most dominant male of the group is the last to remain to be able to mate with the female. Strutting walks are performed when all males walk single file with their bodies erect and their bills pointed to the ground to display for the female. Larger, more dominant males frequently take up the back of the line in order to peck and jab at subordinate males during the routine. This display is performed until the female bows their head with bill tucked down to the ground. Mate selection is completed once all subordinate males have left the group to join others. Copulation is initiated with a mutual bow between the male and female where the male bows over the neck or back of the female, often swinging its head from side to side in a figure eight motion. The pair copulates multiple times for 6 to 22 seconds over a duration of several hours until the mating behaviour has ceased.

Spheniscidae
Penguin courtship consists of both auditory and visual displays; however, their presentation varies by species. Three main forms of courtship behaviour can be observed in most penguin species with the male initiating the displays to attract a female mate and to establish a nesting site.

Ecstatic displays are the first of the tree behaviours observed during courtship in which the male penguin bows low and raises its beak with a trumpeting squawk with its flippers lifted in the air and may sometimes shake or sway their head. This behaviour is performed to attract mates, establish their nesting site, and to signal to neighbouring males to keep their distance.

Mutual Ecstatic displays are the second behaviour performed during courtship in which both the male and the female partner perform ecstatic displays to one another. This behaviour varies among species once again, with the most prominent difference being that of the emperor penguin who's two partners stand with head touching with bills facing down, and softly braying (honking). Both partners perform the mutual behaviour at the same time in order to improve partner recognition, organised nesting sites and roles, and to strengthen the pair bond of the two species.

Bowing is the final observed courtship behaviour observed in most penguin species. This behaviour is characterized when the male and female bow towards the ground with heads tilted down, heads shaking, and often making a soft hissing or growling sound to one another. This behaviour is believed to also strengthen the pair bond between the couple and is usually noted when one partner returns to the nest when foraging for food or other resources.

Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants develop breeding pair bonds that last for a duration of a single breeding season but have been shown to sometimes carry over into the following breeding season. Courtship begins in group breeding grounds located on isolated shorelines and in nearby waters with pair chasing and presentation of a nuptial gift of nesting supplies provided by the male indicating the beginning of pair formation. Males begin the courtship process by establishing a nesting site nearby other cormorant nests and performs threat displays to deter other pairs from nesting too close. Upon arrival of the female mate, the cormorant performs a "wing flapping" behaviour in which the male assumes a horizontal stature, erects it's tail with spread plumage, head drawn back with its neck touching its dorsal side and raises its beak with inflated gorge to the sky, and will often produce a cackling cry. The cormorant will raise its wings to display plumage and flap wings in rhythmic formation along with bobbing its head side to side and will increase the frequency of this behaviour as the female draws near. The male cormorant has also been shown to perform "gaping behaviour" by thrusting their open bill with inflated pouch forward accompanied by a call, or to display nesting materials that lie underneath the male in order to attract interest of the desired female mate.

After copulation the pair performs several pair strengthening and recognition behaviours with intermittent departures by the male to retrieve food and nesting resources. Examples of observed pair strengthening behaviours are: Gaping display (see above), Pointing display (neck end bill extended far forward pointed up with tail plumage spread), Pawing (male returning to nest gently places foot on back of female), Nesting material display (returning male presents newliy found nesting material to the female), and Hopping display (with bill initially pointing towards ground, cormorant jumps slightly off of ground and will raise its neck and beak to a vertical position with its gular pouch inflated and feathers ruffled followed by slowly tilting the head to one side or the other).

Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds breed in pair bonds that often carry over during the course of several breeding seasons as they possess a strong attachment to successful nesting sites, although this does not always occur and is subject different pairing patterns. Courtship behaviour takes place in groups at breeding ground sites and is initiated by the male who performs aerial displays near group nesting sites by flying in wide circles up to approximately 100 meters in the air, performing calls in sync with beats of their wings, and drooping their long tails and streamers down. This behaviour attracts many other nearby tropicbirds to perform aerial displays to form group sizes ranging from 6-12 individuals. The female will select one of the displaying males and the pair will break off from the group and will begin synchronized flight displays. These displays can be categorized as zigzagging patterns or in a descending glide with one partner flying closely above the other where the mate on top points their wings in a downward angle while the bottom mate points their wings in an upward angle. During this behaviour, the upper bird may direct their tail streamers down to touch their partner mid-flight and may last for hundreds of meters. Once the pair bond is formed, the pair will establish their nesting site and copulate in the nest.

Aerial courtship behaviour has been shown to attract more available breeding birds from nearby grounds and also believed to synchronize breeding timing with other individuals or neighboring groups .Aerial displays when in a group are shown to most commonly occur during the morning, with numbers decreasing toward the afternoon as mates are selected or individuals give up

Peer Review
Hi there,

Reading through your article, the tone was neutral and the language was clear, the behaviours are described clearly and concisely. The sources all seem like they're reputable and applicable, and the first two paragraphs are cited well. The last section on cormorants seems to have the citations spaced a few statements apart and it's not immediately clear if some statements are un-cited or if it's all coming from the same source. In addition, the sections are fairly large blocks of text, and separating them each into two or three paragraphs would help to present the material in a less daunting way. It might also help clear up some of the ambiguity in the citations. Excellent contribution overall.

Cheers

Article
Sexual Selection

Content

 * Overall, the content is well written and contains a broad overview of sexual selection across many different taxa of living organisms that exhibit this mating behaviour.
 * The article expands on topics related to sexual selection that link the subject to early evolution, reproductive success, sexual dimorphism of a species, and the main researchers throughout history that contributed to the establishment of the theory of sexual selection.
 * The article provides an overview on the history of the theory by evaluating the research and contributions by Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, and Ronald Fisher. The sub-paragraph containing the contribution by Fisher goes in depth on his conclusions of selection of mates and provides multiple direct quotes from his own research to solidify the context of these concepts. However, two of these quotes lack an immediate citation following their inclusion which is required for the use of a direct quote containing "factual information" and should be added.
 * The article may be able to improve its content by providing more sources for its statements and also perhaps including referenced to its effects on stabilising, disruption, and directional selection within an areas population as a result of the selective mate choice.

Tone

 * The tone of this article is neutral throughout and does not attempt to persuade the reader towards a one sided opinion upon the theory of sexual selection. The article provides a healthy scepticism behind conclusions derived from its proper sources by stating things such as "may explain" or "has been shown" to demonstrate that these points are not necessarily concrete facts but can suggest a certain finding that may be debunked later on through research.
 * The article section "sexual dimorphism" however does not provide any sources for information that it claims to be factual but may in fact be false information used in order to arrive at a conclusion in the article. This creates a tone of uncertainty for the reader as these "facts" may not even be factual or have any scholarly evidence.

Talk Page

 * The talk page has been very active since the pages creation and has threads dating back to 2006 and up to this past July 2018. The page provides great suggestions on how to improve the quality of certain sections and also provided clear and concise information on why certain changes were made and how they were performed.
 * One interesting note about the talk page was a thread of hostility by an editor using their own research as factual and argues the guidelines of Wikipedia on whether the information is valid or not. The dispute was resolved in a civil manner with the participation of more experienced editors weighing in on how to approach the situation and explaining what information can and cannot be used along with suggestions on how to handle situations where others edit your articles in the future.
 * Finally, the article apears to use the most up to date information available as the page has been consistently been edited at least four times a month since its creation. This allows for consistent fact checking and updates to new discoveries in the field of sexual selection research