Kinetic art, Ian Ingram

A hermaphroditic robotic system that detects the territorial drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker and responds with its male sub-system by drumming to declare its own territory, its female sub-system then suggesting via the drum-tap signal that this is also a good place to excavate a nest hole. The robot then plays both parts of the drum-tapping mating ritual of the Pileated Woodpecker, perhaps the act closest to human copulation in its bond forming as coitus is so fleeting in woodpeckers.

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Using a double-stacked version of the pushup gesture of the Western Fence Lizard, the robot, Lizardless Legs, declares this fallen branch its territory.

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Gently licking one's opponent: a classic taunt in a lizard vs. robot showdown. Lizardless Legs does nothing in response.

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Robotic priest for Eurasian Magpies that uses the beak-wiping gesture to relay messages to those around: to magpies that it is very well-fed yet nervous; to humans that know Morse code that it is in a state of constant mourning. Magpies themselves conduct funerals when one of their number dies. Humans do the same. Here, it is in a tree on the island of Amager outside of Copenhagen.

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