Satin Bowerbird

The satin bowerbird constructs elaborate avenue bowers decorated almost exclusively with blue objects - feathers, flowers, berries, bottle caps, pen lids, and drinking straws. This extreme color preference creates a signature display style where the bower itself becomes a fitness advertisement extending beyond the bird's body.

Richard Dawkins coined 'extended phenotype' to describe such structures - the bower is an expression of the male's genes just as surely as his feathers. Females inspect bowers for construction quality, decoration arrangement, and color saturation. A male with poor genes cannot build an impressive bower; the structure honestly advertises genetic quality through external construction.

The business parallel illuminates how companies create extended phenotypes through products, offices, and brand environments. Apple Stores function as corporate bowers - meticulously designed spaces that advertise organizational capability through environmental construction. The store is an extended phenotype of Apple's design philosophy, communicating quality through architecture rather than words.

Satin bowerbirds also demonstrate competitive interference. Males regularly destroy rivals' bowers and steal decorations. This sabotage is costly - time spent destroying competitors' work is time not spent improving one's own. Yet the behavior persists because relative standing matters more than absolute quality. Companies similarly engage in competitive interference through patent litigation, talent poaching, and market blocking - destroying competitor capabilities alongside building their own.