Are the basic dance moves hardwired? Yes, in both birds and fish.
In bluehead wrasses, researchers found that stimulating specific brain regions — the posterior thalamus — triggered pectoral fin fluttering identical to courtship movements, and this happened even in females who never normally perform such displays [4]. This shows the neural circuitry for the core motor pattern exists innately, not learned from experience. Similarly, in golden-collared manakins, testosterone treatment activated male-typical courtship behaviors in juvenile males with low natural testosterone, but only weakly in females, suggesting a genetic sex bias in the wiring [2]. The takeaway: the basic choreography is built into the brain, ready to be triggered by hormones or social cues.
But birds also learn from each other — especially timing and social strategy.
In spotted bowerbirds, subordinate males perform the same dance postures as dominant owners, but they only get to practice and refine these moves by hanging around established males' bowers [1]. The study found that higher subordinate attendance correlated with lower bower destruction by rivals and higher mating success for the owner, suggesting that these social interactions are a form of learning — a 'courtship coalition' where subordinates learn the ropes [1]. This is not about learning the dance itself (which seems innate), but about learning when and where to perform it for maximum payoff. In estrildid finches, the choice of prop (e.g., longer grass stems) during courtship dancing was consistent across wild and captive birds, implying a learned preference for what signals quality, not just a fixed ritual [3].
Hormones and experience fine-tune the performance, but don't teach the basics.
In golden-collared manakins, testosterone boosted courtship behaviors in males but had mixed effects in females — some behaviors were activated weakly, others not at all [2]. This suggests hormones amplify an already-existing innate circuit, not create it from scratch. In rock doves (pigeons), the hormone prolactin promoted parental care but did not alter courtship or copulation rates, showing that courtship and parenting are controlled by separate hormonal pathways [5]. So while hormones can turn up the volume on courtship, they don't teach the dance — the basic steps are already there.
About These Sources
This answer is built on 5 peer-reviewed studies — published from 2021 to 2025, 1 from 2024 or later, 4 in Q1 journals — selected as the most relevant from 5 studies that passed quality screening, drawn from 45 papers retrieved from a database of over 500 million.
Sources used in this answer
Male–male associations in spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus) exhibit attributes of courtship coalitions
In wild spotted bowerbirds, subordinate males perform the same courtship postures as dominant owners, but their social attendance at bowers correlates with lower bower destruction and higher owner mating success, suggesting a learned social coalition role rather than learning the dance itself.
Behavioral Sex Differences and Hormonal Control in a Bird with an Elaborate Courtship Display
In golden-collared manakins, testosterone treatment activated male-typical courtship behaviors in juvenile males but only weakly or not at all in females, indicating a strong innate sex bias in the neural circuitry for courtship.
Choice of props for courtship dancing in estrildid finches
In estrildid finches (red-cheeked cordon-bleus and star finches), both captive and wild birds preferred longer strings as props during courtship dancing, suggesting a learned preference for signals of quality rather than a fixed ritual.
Brain regions controlling courtship behavior in the bluehead wrasse
In bluehead wrasses, electrical stimulation of the posterior thalamus triggered courtship-like pectoral fin movements even in females, proving the neural circuits for male-typical courtship exist innately in both sexes.
Prolactin promotes parental responses and alters reproductive axis gene expression, but not courtship behaviors, in both sexes of a biparental bird
In rock doves, prolactin treatment promoted parental responses but did not alter courtship behaviors or copulation rates, showing that courtship and parenting are controlled by separate hormonal pathways.