ritualized behaviour by which an animal provides specific information to others, usually members of its own species. Virtually all higher animals use displays to some extent. The best-known displays are visual ones—and some biologists restrict the term display to visual signals or gestures—but many also incorporate sound, smell, or even touch. Displays evolve through the ritualization of specific behaviour patterns. Some mating displays evolve from food-giving behaviours; the male bobwhite quail gives a food call and offers a tidbit to his potential mate. In many birds the food-giving behaviour is completely ritualized and proceeds without any exchange of food; domestic cocks, for example, call and peck at bare ground to attract a hen.