Duke University has studied the mating habits of peacocks to find out the logic behind why males make a noise called a "hoot dash" before they, you know, do it. And the reason turns out to be pretty funny: The best way for a dude peacock to attract a lady peacock is to first fornicate with another peacock and make the honking call.


Duke researchers tested the logic by playing some peacock trickery. And by that I mean they played the hoot dash over a loud speaker and all the lady peacocks went wild. Guy peacocks have really evolved in a way that helps them get as much peacock tail as possible. [Behaviour via PopSci]