the.com/bowerbird
the only architect who builds a seduction palace he never plans to live in.
means A bird of Australia and New Guinea, the male of which builds and elaborately decorates a structure of twigs called a bower to attract a mate, often arranging colourful objects by hue.
from A plain English compound: 'bower,' an old word for a shady leafy enclosure or shelter (from Old English 'būr,' a dwelling or chamber — the same root that lurks in 'neighbour'), plus 'bird.' English-speaking settlers in Australia, watching the male's twig-built courtship arbour, simply named the bird for the little dwelling it made — though, as the essence notes, it's a house no one ever moves into.
- interior decor
- sorts trophies by color, fixing displaced ones obsessively
- forced perspective
- arranges objects to look bigger, fooling the female's eye
- blue obsession
- some species crave blue, the rarest color in nature
- rival sabotage
- males steal and trash each other's decorations
- no nest
- the bower is pure theater, useless for raising young
satin bowerbird — australian bird that builds elaborate stick structures decorated with blue objects to attract mates in queensland rainforests
spotted bowerbird — central australian species that constructs avenue-shaped bowers adorned with stones, bones, and glass in the macdonnell ranges
vogelkop bowerbird — indonesian species from new guinea known for the most complex bower architecture, building intricate hut-like structures with decorative gardens