Desert Squirrel

By PolS

Peacock displaying

I've seen peacocks with their tail erect before, but this afternoon this guy put on the full display for two peahens, who for the most part paid scant attention to him.  We've just been reading a book about sexual selection in birds, so were especially enthralled to watch the performance, which I have never seen before.  The shaking of his erect tail feathers, the vibration of orange rear-facing tail feathers, and that prominent white, fluffy tail piece: spectacular!  He deftly manoeuvred to face the female, before carrying out the 'dance', but she rarely glanced in his direction, seemingly more interested in some tasty item on the ground.

As these birds seem to live in a car park, they are totally comfortable with humans around, and I was plenty close enough with my phone.

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