The video, recorded in spring and shared by Russian user @katie.bolgarova, shows a peacock with his tail fully fanned out and his feathers vibrating with a rattling sound that they use during courtship to attract females. According to the author, three well-fed females live there, along with two other young males whose tails are still small and who aren’t competition for him just yet. Even so, in an unusual move, the peacock directed his display at the farm’s rooster.
Katie joked that her peacock suffered from “cognitive dissonance” as he tried to woo the little tough guy of the place, who isn’t even his species, but she also suggested a much more accurate interpretation: the peacock was trying to intimidate him and drive him out of the peacock’s territory.
Science also helps explain the sound that accompanies this display. Researchers at the University of Manitoba discovered that, in addition to the audible rattling of their feathers, peacocks produce infrasound below 20 hertz, imperceptible to human ears but detectable by other members of their species.
Scientists found that both males and females react to these signals, suggesting they could play a role in both courtship and communication between rivals. And in an anecdotal case in captivity, a peacock even shook his feathers in front of a wall.
But who really knows what goes on in a peacock’s head?