<figure class="fr-image-container fr-full"><img srcset="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/30343/bustards-s.webp 480w, https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/30343/bustards-m.webp 660w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 480px, 660px" src="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/30343/bustards-s.jpg" title="bustards.jpg" loading="lazy" data-id="30343"><figcaption class="fr-figcaption"><p class="fr-caption"></p></figcaption></figure><p> For male <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houbara_Bustard" title="">Houbara bustards</a></p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><p>, extravagant sexual displays come with a price: rapid sexual aging. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01668.x/abstract" title="">By studying over 1,700 North African Houbara bustards</a></p><p>, researchers in France have learned that the birds, by age six, already begin producing smaller ejaculates with a large number of dead and abnormal sperm. The more showy the bustard, the quicker he burns himself out. As lead researcher <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/w-sem080411.php" title="">Brian Preston said in a prepared statement</a></p><div data-embedid="dcfb67aa-fdf4-4a19-b4c7-75c497a8de9c" id="insticator-embed-temp"></div><p>: </p><blockquote><p>This is the bird equivalent of the posers who strut their stuff in bars and nightclubs every weekend. If the bustard is anything to go by, these same guys will be reaching for their toupees sooner than they'd like.</p></blockquote><p> [Read more about these peculiar birds and see a video of one of their seductive dances at the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14388541" title="">BBC</a></p><p>.] </p><p><em>Image courtesy of </em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42244964@N03/5361690538/" title="">Frank. Vassen</a><em> / Flickr</em></p>

Discover the fascinating world of Houbara bustards, where extravagant sexual displays lead to rapid sexual aging. Learn more!

Planet Earth

Showy Male Birds—You Live Life Like a Candle in the Wind

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Joseph Castro

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For male Houbara bustards , extravagant sexual displays come with a price: rapid sexual aging. By studying over 1,700 North African Houbara bustards , researchers in France have learned that the birds, by age six, already begin producing smaller ejaculates with a large number of dead and abnormal sperm. The more showy the bustard, the quicker he burns himself out. As lead researcher Brian Preston said in a prepared statement : This is the bird equivalent of the posers who strut their stuff in bars and nightclubs every weekend. If the bustard is anything to go by, these same guys will be reaching for their toupees sooner than they'd like. [Read more about these peculiar birds and see a video of one of their seductive dances at the BBC .] Image courtesy of Frank. Vassen / Flickr

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