With his glossy blue-black plumage and striking violet eyes, the male satin bowerbird really stands out in a flock. As if purple peepers weren’t enough to grab attention, the bowerbird has evolved to develop quite a flair for design and construction in order to compete for female interest. And apparently, the competition is pretty stiff. Male bowerbirds are evaluated by females based on their ability to build a complex structure or bower made from twigs and dried grass. Once the walls of the U-shaped bower are complete, objects carefully chosen for artistic impact, including flowers, berries, shells, feathers and brightly colored bits of plastic, are precisely placed around the base of the bower to increase the overall appeal.

Bowerbirds that beautify with berries get the added advantage of a local crop to harvest from for redecorating when discarded fruits grow into plants. Native to Australia and New Guinea, each of the twenty species of these masters of avian architecture works with a species-specific color palette. To showcase his design chops, the satin bowerbird prefers to accessorize in shades of blue, perhaps as a complement to his feathered finery. If you’re still honing your decorating skills don’t worry, it took millions of years for the bowerbird to get this good. You can learn more about the satin bowerbird and other clever winged creatures in The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.