I am here to tell you all the secrets of the amazing, beautiful, complicated peacock.

Now, some of you might remember learning when you were students that the reason for the peacock's astonishing plumage, with all those colorful eyespots, is to attract mates. The more eyespots, the more color, the more likely a peacock is to pass on the genes for lots of eyespots and color. It's called sexual selection. It's part of evolution.

But it's actually more complex than it might seem, because the same plumage that attracts mates also attracts predators. Those eyespots and that brilliant blue neck make the peacock much easier to see for the creatures that want to kill it and eat it. And that long, awkward tail makes the peacock much easier to catch.

So why hasn't survival of the fittest led to dull brown feathers and short, simple tails instead?

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