Finding a mate is a priority for any creature that relies on sexual reproduction to produce offspring. The next step is to get that potential mate to notice you and welcome your advances! This is achieved through a series of sometimes elaborate courtship rituals that are unique to each animal species. In the above video, you can see one of the most strikingly beautiful peacock courtship displays on the planet. A male is displaying his impressive tail feathers (called a train) and is desperately trying to get a peahen’s attention. Here, we will analyze each part of the ritual, explaining its purpose and how he eventually achieves the desired effect.
Peacocks, Peahens and Peafowls
There is often confusion around the terminology used to describe these unique animals. The bird featured in the video, and the one that most people think of when they picture a peacock, is an Indian blue peafowl (Pavo cristatus) although they are commonly called simply Indian Peacocks. They are the most common of the three peafowl species. The others are the green peafowl (Pavo muticus) and the Congo peafowl (Afropavo congesnis).
Indian blue peafowl are a native bird of Sri Lanka and India and are also found in the wild in some other countries including Pakistan and Malaya. However, thanks to the trade in exotic birds, they can be found in zoos, parks, and gardens all over the world.
Both males and females have a ‘train’ of longer tail plumage but those of the peahens are smaller and brown, grey, or cream. A male peacock’s train plumage, on the other hand, is spectacular!
Wooing His Mate
The clip was captured during the mating season, which is from June to December. This is when the male grows his long train, which reaches around four feet. He will discard it in January and start growing a new one to be ready for the next mating season. He also displays his train to its best advantage as a wide fan. Each feather consists of a central shaft, loose barbs on its sides, and an ocelli or “eyespot” pattern at the end. The overall effect is an iridescent pattern of golds, greens, browns, and blacks, which accentuate his bright blue neck and breast plumage. You’d think that this alone would be enough to impress the female, but she seems uninterested so he has to take his courtship skills to another level!
What It Takes to Impress a Peahen
Peahens are incredibly discerning when it comes to choosing a mate and only the best will do. Overall, males with larger and more elaborate trains with more eyespots and who display most often have the greatest success in finding a mate. This is because all of these are signs of health and a superior immune system – traits that every peahen wants in her chicks. But not all is lost for males who have less than impressive plumage. They can compensate by demonstrating their moves, which are just as important.
Peacock Courtship Moves
The behavior displayed by the peacock in the above video is not random. He is employing a series of peacock courtship moves that demonstrate his energy and muscular power and therefore his value as a mating partner. She may look as if she is oblivious to his efforts but she is secretly checking him out. Recent research using wireless eye trackers has shown that peahens critically assess males both from a distance and close-up.
Initially, he is shimmering his iridescent feathers in a frontal display. Studies using high-speed video cameras have revealed that they rattle their feathers 25 times a second. The biomechanics of train rattling is highly complex. Listen carefully and you can hear the rattling sound as the barbs move across each other. Another move is called “train-shivering” where he strums his tail feathers against the train. Females are particularly impressed by males who can make their trains sway while the eyespots remain relatively still. These guys have the greatest mating success.
Suddenly he turns away from the female into what is called a ‘backside display’ just before he mates with her. However, this is not the end of the romance. If she is really into him, she will mate with him repeatedly and aggressively drive other females away.