Love Stinks...and Sings

Summer in the Midwest comes with its own soundtrack: male cicadas (all species) buzzing their hearts out. Under their wings, they flex ridged membranes called tymbals to make that signature trill, and their hollow abdomens act like tiny guitar bodies to crank up the volume.  When a female likes what she hears, she sends back a quick wing‑flick click and the male stops the show and switches to a softer, more intimate tune to cement their mating. 

Fun fact: Each cicada species has its own unique male song and female response, including all of the 13 and 17-year periodical cicada species we get in the Midwest!

Meet the Midwest’s underwater home‑improvement hero: the male bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus). They carve out shallow, bowl‑shaped nests in huge colonies—like a whole cul‑de‑sac of hopeful fish dads. Once he's claimed the perfect spot (preferably in the most-protected middle of the colony), he uses his fins, tail and mouth to clear out silt, sticks and pebbles until the nest looks just right. Then he defends it from nosy neighbors and turns on the charm with bright colors, fin‑flaring, and grunty little love songs.

If a female likes his style, she swims over and they perform a slow yin‑yang dance above the nest while she lays her eggs. Then she heads off—and he steps into full‑time dad mode, guarding the eggs and then the young fry until they can swim.

Gray ratsnakes (Pantherophis spiloides) are surprisingly adorable in their approach to wooing a partner. When a male finds a female in the late spring, he greets in with a slow, gentle nose-to-nose boop. If the female isn't ready to mate, the male will hang around her for a few days, giving her time to warm up. 

If she likes his vibe, their courtship begins. He rubs his chin along her back, loops himself over her and begins to shake and shimmy as they intertwine. To initiate mating, the male gently bites the back of her neck. Once they're done, the snakes will go their separate ways, likely to find other partners to boop noses and slither-slow dance with. 

Female blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) don’t wait to be wooed—they run an audition. In late winter or early spring, available females call and wait for a group of four to 10 potential mates to arrive. Then she takes to the air, with her suitors chasing.

After a short flight, she lands and the males surround her, calling and bobbing to show off. She watches… then takes off again, minus one or two contestants. She repeats this fly‑and‑land routine until only one male is left. The last male standing (winging?) is now her guy.  

The new pair will begin to bond, with the male bringing his new partner seeds and finding twigs so they can practice nest building together. Once paired, blue jays stay bonded for life—and each year, before mating season, the male will once again find and feed his partner seeds to show his devotion and strengthen their bond. 

Red‑tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) courtship is not for the faint of heart. It starts with a male soaring over his territory, lifting and diving in big, dramatic sweeps to impress any watching females and show that he's a vigilant territory guard.

An interested female will meet him in the air, soaring with him to make a duet in the sky. The male will fly just above her, occasionally drifting close enough to gently touch her back with his talons or beak.

Then comes the showstopper: daring twists, mirrored dives, and high‑speed passes. Sometimes they even clasp talons and free-fall toward the ground in slow spins and rapid spirals—letting go at the perfect moment to shoot skyward again. Once they decide they’re a match, they pair up for life—raising families and performing their sky‑high courtship show year after year.

If “enemies to lovers” is your favorite trope, but you prefer it loud, chaotic and very smelly—meet the American mink (Neogale vison). 

For most of the year, minks—especially the males—are fiercely solitary and territorial. During their late winter mating season, though, males mark their territory with strong (and very stinky) scent messages that invite females in and tell rival males to back off.

When a male and female mink meet, things get loud and dramatic fast. Courtship looks and sounds like a chaotic combat zone—complete with play‑fighting, wrestling, and lots of angry‑sounding vocalizations. Females may push back hard, testing a male’s strength and persistence before deciding if he’s worth her time. The whole process is brief but intense, and while a pair may hang out for a day or two before mating, they part soon after to look for other partners.