Mate Selection

Abstract

Abstract Sexual displays often attain gigantic dimensions and take bizarre forms. The peacock’s tail grows into the well-known large, colorful fan; peacocks presenting themselves to peahens spend time and energy holding their tails spread open and upright and vibrating them rapidly. Males of many other bird species grow long tail feathers for sexual displays. Relative to their size, some male pheasants and birds of paradise have tails almost as large as the peacock’s, and the males of some species of songbird, such as the viduas of Africa, have tails that are proportionately even longer.