Shake a tail feather?

Shake a tail feather?

Scientists tout “sexual selection” to explain why peacocks have such ostentatious tail feathers. But what does that really mean to their potential mate, the peahen? Does she see what we see? If not, then what?

Biologists recently put themselves in the peahens’ shoes by tracking their eye movements while males shook their stuff. Turns out it’s not what you got, but what you do with it. Peacocks must strut and move like a Bollywood film star to hold the hen’s eye—and capture her heart.      —Alex Bortolot, Content Strategist, October 15

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Image: Jessica Yorzinski

Source: Robin Anne Smith, ”Eye-Tracking Reveals What’s Hot, What’s Not from the Peahen’s Point of View,” http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/, 7/25/13