Hi Reddit,
Our names are Roslyn Dakin and Suzanne Amador Kane. We study animal behavior and vision.
Roz is a postdoctoral fellow in zoology at the University of British Columbia. She studies bird courtship, mating behavior, and flight. Suzanne is a biological physics professor at Haverford College. Her research focuses on how physics influences animal behavior.
Along with coauthors Owen McCrossan, Jim Hare, and Bob Montgomerie, we recently published a study in PLOS ONE titled, "Biomechanics of the Peacock's Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling".
When peacocks try to impress females, they fan their feathers and vibrate them at a very high rate, causing the eyespots to hover against an undulating, shimmering background. We explored the physics of this display. We found that the individual feathers move as standing waves. Furthermore, the peacock’s tail as a whole has a resonant peak frequency matching the vibration frequency of the display (about 25 times per second). This indicates that the tail is well-suited to perform the display efficiently. However, when we studied individual peacocks in the field, we found that individuals with longer feathers used slightly higher frequencies on average, suggesting that the display may reveal a male’s capacity to generate muscular force. It’s still an open question as to how (or if) this display influences the female, her perception of the peacock's iridescent colors, and how she chooses a mate.
We are excited to answer your questions at 1pm ET. Ask Us Anything!
Also, be sure to watch a video on vibrations of peacock feathers and our lab experiments from this study.
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