Why do peacocks have such colorful tail feathers?
Peacock's Flashy Gamble
Why do peacocks have such colorful tail feathers?
A peacock walks into a clearing, drops what looks like an ordinary brown bird, and then — fwoom — unfurls a fan taller than himself, shimmering in blue, green, and gold. Hundreds of eye-shaped spots stare out at once. It looks absurd. It looks heavy. It looks completely impractical. So why on earth would a bird grow something like this?
First, a small correction. That magnificent fan isn't really his tail. The colorful feathers grow from his back, just above the tail, and they're called the train. The actual tail feathers are short, stiff, and brown — they hide behind the train and prop it up like a kickstand. So the showstopper is doing nothing useful at all. That's the whole point.
