Peacock feathers
© sarayut Thaneerat/Getty Image
Regal Radiance. Bright and colourful peacock feathers
Peacock feathers, multicoloured and radiant, are instantly recognisable. Their signature ‘eyespots’ flash in the light when a male displays for a nearby peahen, which is the female species’ name. The colourful nature of the feathers is scientifically fascinating. Instead of the colours being composed of individual pigments, iridescence of the peacock's hues is caused by the microscopic crystal-like structures of the feathers. As the feathers shift, so does the colour of the feather. This iridescent show is all done to attract a mate. When mating season is over, males lose their feathers, making it easy for us to collect them for display, art, or simply a reminder of nature’s beauty.
Related Images
Bing Today Images
Demoiselle cranes, India
Mar 30, 2026
Belted Galloway cows in Galloway
Mar 30, 2022
Detail of an ostrich fern in spring, Washington, USA
Mar 30, 2021
A European crested tit weathers a storm in Scotland
Mar 30, 2020
The Vestibule at Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia
Mar 30, 2018
West Bow in Edinburgh, Scotland
Mar 30, 2016
Mars Express image of the icy cap at Mars’ south pole
The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Colony of Common Mussels (Mytilus edulis) growing on striated rock formation exposed at low tide. Cornwall, England.
Artist Laura Buckley with her video installation Fata Morgana, Saatchi Gallery, London
Hoar frost on vegetation near Coniston, Lake District
View of Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina, USA
Street art from the 2013 Pasadena Chalk Festival, California, USA
Sand portrait of WW1 Royal Naval Reservist Richard Davies on Ynyslas Beach, Ceredigion