A male peacock courting a female. (Image credit: Roslyn Dakin PLOS ONE e0152759)
It takes more than flashing that beautiful tail to get a mate in the peacock world, according to new research. Researchers noticed the way the peacocks raise and vibrate their tail feathers makes it appear as if the eyespots hover motionless against an iridescent background. The research team captured 14 peacocks on video to analyze for the study. Males with longer trains shook their feathers at a faster rate. The researchers believe this shows that longer feathers require more muscle power to shake. This could signal to the females the muscle power of potential mates, because the peacocks with the largest and fastest vibrating tail feathers were the most successful at attracting and mating peahens.
Authors:
Roslyn Dakin, Owen McCrossan, James F. Hare, Robert Montgomerie, Suzanne Amador Kane
Corresponding author:
Roslyn Dakin, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Original paper, published on April 27, 2016 in PLOS One.
