When I was 19, I went to Australia for several months as part of a 5 person field research team studying the Satin Bowerbird. The Satin Bowerbird is polygynous (unusual for birds) and a relative of the Birds of Paradise. Instead of extraordinary plumage, the Satin looks quite ordinary, but it exhibits extraordinary behavior. The males build bowers—a kind of avian “bachelor pad”—of twigs and sticks, arranged beautifully and adorned with blue and yellow flowers and scavenged objects. Every day,...