Human males often lie to female partners to make them bond more and ultimately become a lifelong mate. Whether the female is aware of this doesn't seem to matter. Even when she knows, her affection is stronger than accepting she has been duped.
Male great bower birds also deceive females. He makes an intricate, often beautiful, structure to lure a prospective mate. First a bower is constructed which consists of twigs piled on top of each other. Then a walkway is built with an arch big enough for both birds to walk through. The final sweetener is the cache of rocks, shells, bones and fruit.
The male bird carefully places each piece of the cache either further away or at the front of the display to look better from the perspective of the female. He picks up each article waving it in front of her. The deception is that large objects are place further away and small objects are placed toward the front.
She is transfixed by his display and while "hypnotized" he mates with her. Sometimes she is not impressed and will not go into the swoon state. To prevent this, males will trash the work of rivals. Males of other species such as gray parrots, mistle thrush and pigeons deceive females as well.
Wildlife
