Why does the peacock raise his feathers

Female peacocks are dull brown. It has vibrant eye shaped markings of blue, red, gold and other colors. Microscopic, crystal-like structures in the feathers reflect different wavelengths of light creating the bright, fluorescent colors. The train of a peacock is used for mating and defense. Male peacocks attract female peacocks by showing off this array of elaborate feathers. When threatened, they also fan their tails out in order to look larger and intimidating.

When the peacock quivers his feathers, they emit a low-frequency sound inaudible to humans. The peacock can change the sound to communicate different messages. Male peacocks shed their train each year after mating season. Despite their giant tail feathers peacocks are able to fly, though they do not fly very far.

When in danger, peacocks fly up into trees. They also spend nights in trees. Peacocks can also run quickly. Male peacocks are called peacocks, while female peacocks are called peahens. Male peacocks are usually about twice the size of female peacocks. Male peacocks look especially larger than female peacocks when displaying their plumage feathers. When male peacocks are not displaying, their tail feathers, called trains, drag behind them.

The first step to answering those questions was to quantify the patterns of the feathery motion. Back in the lab, the team mounted single feathers onto mechanical shakers to measure how they vibrated in response to shaking. They found that the longer the train feathers, the faster the males would shake them during courtship displays—perhaps to demonstrate their superior muscular strength.

However, they also vibrate their feathers at or near the natural resonant frequency, enabling them to produce strong displays while using the least amount of energy. Kane draws an analogy to a child on a swing. Simply pull the swing and let it go, and it will swing back and forth at its natural resonant frequency. Time the additional pushes just right, so that they are at the same frequency, and it will swing even higher and faster.

Push at just above or below that frequency, and your efforts will have very little effect on the swing. But peacock feathers rub up against each other all the time, so they produce lots of friction. That means a peacock can shake his tail feathers at a wider range of potential resonant frequencies and still be reasonably energy efficient. One such resonant frequency is used in train-rattling, while another corresponds with train-shivering.

But the underlying physics is the same. The main difference between males and females is their color. This is common in the animal kingdom — and with birds in particular — as being more colorful serves some important purposes for the males. Females, on the other hand, and much more bland in appearance. They are typically shades of brown with some white patches.

Related — Here is a closer look at the differences between male and female peafowl with pictures. The main reason why peacocks spread out their tail feather is to attract a mate. This is how — through evolution and many thousands of years — the peacock has got to the point where their tail feathers are so huge.

Essentially, through the process of selective breeding due to the peacock with the largest feathers mating the most, the offspring carry the genes with the most feathers.