WEBVTT - Ba-Gawk! How Peacocks Work 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:07.720 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:13.960 Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck. 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:19.360 Jerry's here too, And I can't think of anything hilarious 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:21.479 to say, so I'm just going to say this is 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:22.400 stuff you should know. 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:28.920 That's right. A live show listener request edition because peacocks 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.600 came to us. Did you get her name? Or can 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:35.960 we just say the wonderful young girl at our Atlanta 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:36.480 live show? 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:41.839 I really want to say Sarah, but I'm not sure. So, 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:47.000 whoever you are, young girl who suggested peacocks at the 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:49.640 Atlanta show, right in to tell us your name so 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:50.680 we can tell everybody. 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.560 Yeah, so this is a great idea. We're talking about peacocks, 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.080 which is, if you want to look at the word itself, 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.200 it's English and it is derived from the Latin word pavo, 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:05.520 and in Old English that was pronounced pah wah pawa, 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:10.680 and that was shortened over the years to poe eventually pocock, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:16.760 then palcock, and I guess peacock. And it's linked a 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.679 little bit to this old expression proud as a poe, 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:22.560 which is, you know how a peacock kind of struts 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.520 around all prideful, and then eventually it became peacock. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.600 Yeah, and you would think it would have become peacock 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.440 like in the nineteen fifties or sixties, but no, it 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.760 became peacock as far back as the thirteen hundreds. Yeah, 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.360 so that's it for etymology of peacock. But there's a 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.880 little more about the word peacock, because a lot of 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.560 you are getting things wrong and you need to be corrected, Yeah, harshly. 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:51.280 Sometimes a peacock is specifically the male of the species. Obviously, 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.920 the p hen is the female. So if you see 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.280 a brown, kind of drab looking peacock, he's you look 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.120 at that brown peacock, Well, you just sound like a 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.800 hay seed. Yeah, it's a p hen and she's not drabbed, 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:07.800 she's camouflaged. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.280 That's right. Their little babies cairlled pea chicks. And if 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.680 you want to talk as we're going to about the 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:16.560 the species as a whole, we're going to be saying 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.160 p fowl. And then we will you know, when we 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.240 say cock, we're going to mean male. When we say hn, 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.720 we're going to mean lady. And when we say chick 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.840 we're going to mean beebe Okay, I think. 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:30.760 We've really laid it out. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.799 There are three main species, speaking of laying this out 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.679 of the pa fowl. Uh and you have the most 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:38.520 common that you if you live in the United States 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.040 and you've seen one, maybe in a zoo, maybe in 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.760 a park, or maybe startting around your neighborhood. 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.440 Yeah, we have some walking around our area too. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.480 Oh yeah, is it? I mean the same ones from 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.560 many years ago, because you told the story years ago 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.040 about the sound of the peacock. 0:02:55.680 --> 0:03:03.040 Sorry, no, those were those were Yumi's grandma's peacock. Neighborhood peacocks. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.760 Oh okay, And for some reason, the ones that live 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:10.600 around me are not a disturbance at all. I mean 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.320 they make their sounds, but few and it's few and 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:17.200 far between. It's not annoying at all. It's kind of 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.920 cute and it's just a different experience than it was 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:23.440 around Jumi's grandma's house. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.760 All right, fair enough. I mean I've talked before about 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.480 my neighborhood peacocks. I have not seen them in a 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:31.560 few years, so I don't know if they're still around. 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.080 And the house is on my morning dog walk, so 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.680 I haven't seen those peacocks around in a little while 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.400 those p fowl, So I'm not sure if they're around, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.120 but we used to see them occasionally and it was 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.920 all great fun. But where I started ten minutes ago 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.280 saying is if you see one of those in the 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.560 United States, you're probably almost certainly looking at a blue 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.320 pfowl or an Indian p fowl. 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.720 Yeah, for sure. They are not native to the United States, 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:04.920 although they thrive and coastal wormish areas, kind of muggy areas, 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.520 you could say, too, although also arid areas anyway, California 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.920 and Florida. Let's just specify that they do really well there. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.760 But they're native to India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:21.880 Yes, exactly. They're the most common, little less common, but 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.400 still more common than The third group is the green 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.560 p fowl or the Javanese p fowl, so native to Java, 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.440 Southeast Asia and me and mar And then what's our 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:33.560 little third grouping. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:38.800 The Congo p fowl. That's right, little it's like a 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:43.159 little mini turkey. He looks like they look like they're 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.480 native to the Congo basin in Africa, and the Indian 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:52.160 and Javanese p fowl prefer kind of open ish fields. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:56.919 And maybe kind of tree lined streets. That's why they 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.680 love neighborhoods parks like it replicates their native of habitat. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:05.400 The congo pea fowl prefer to live in the forest itself. Yeah, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.520 that's right, So that's that's where they like to live. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.160 No matter which kind of pea fowl you're talking about, 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.520 they're all going to be omnivores. They eat lots of 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:16.400 seeds and berries and you know, plant life and stuff 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.159 like that, as well as some insects. But they'll also 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:23.320 much down on a mouse or a little cute lizard 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.080 or a snake if they want to. If they're feeling peckish, 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:29.880 I guess. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:35.080 Get a peckish. So they are among the largest flying 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.799 birds in the world. At Something a lot of people 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.920 don't realize about p fowl is that they can fly. Apparently, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.279 the green pea fowl fowl, yeah I said that right, Yeah, 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.520 is a pretty strong flyer. The Indian or blue pea 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.080 fowl is not great. But they can make it to 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.679 the roof of a two story building. Yeah, pretty fast. 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.200 If a dog like Mamo barks at them, I can 0:05:59.240 --> 0:05:59.880 tell you that. 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.039 Yeah, I've seen that too. 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.560 So they can fly and they are very large too. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.599 Blue pea fowl the most common one. They're the biggest 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.440 of the three. The adult male can measure fifty inches. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.719 It's a little over four feet. God knows how many 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.880 meters we're talking about, let's say one point two. And 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.359 it's train, so that what you think of as the 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:27.520 tail feathers are actually not the tail. They actually protrude 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.039 out of the back of the pea fowl or the 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.360 peacock in this case. That can be five to seven 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:37.000 feet long. So they are a big, big bird, not 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:38.799 big bird size, but there's. 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.800 Still a big that's right. And as you'll see, that 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.320 big beautiful train is a big part of the mating ritual. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:50.000 So when you see that thing fully displayed, when that 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.320 peacock wants to have a little good time with a 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.640 p hen, that thing may go five to seven feet 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:57.680 in every direction. 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.000 It's amazing, very very long. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:00.480 Arch. 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.640 They also use it to defend their territory. I saw 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.240 a guy laying pavers once, and he was apparently laying 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.600 pavers on a peacock's territory because the peacock had his 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.760 train like fully fanned out. Oh really, it was like 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:14.880 shaking and staring at the guy like, I'm going to 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.040 kill you if you don't stop laying pavers right there. 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.720 Oh wow, the guy just completely ignored him. It was 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.880 pretty funny to see because that peacock was quite serious. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:27.200 I bet so. The blue adult male peacock is about 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.680 a thirteen pounder if you don't count wild turkeys, which 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.800 are usually put into a different family, although they can 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.480 be in the pheasant family. They are the largest. The 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.000 peacock that is is the largest in the pheasant family. 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:41.440 You're not going to take a shot at the family 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.720 name for the turkeys. No, I wouldn't gun on it, 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:49.880 but you can, uh, Millia Gridi Day. Yeah, great, I 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.200 think I got it. I didn't even practice that one. 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:52.720 Good job. 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.240 But those turkeys, did you say they can weigh up 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:56.440 to thirty pounds? 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.800 I didn't say that about the turkeys, but yeah, they're big. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.280 That's a big turkey. It's like the baby hweie types. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.960 Yeah. I got that turkey family living in living at 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.360 my camp. There's six or eight of them now, they're 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:11.480 just they hang around together. I get them on the 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:12.680 camp camp. It's just lovely. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.240 Well, are they used to your presence or because those 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.120 things run? They have really sharp eyesight, and they scatter quick. 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.720 No, no, I mean sadly. All the wonderful camp activity 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.840 is when I'm not there. Well, I have a feeling 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:28.680 that they peer through the woods and they're like other 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:29.640 guys are down there again? 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.760 Right to leave tomorrow, spending a weekend like standing up 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.240 against the tree and not moving seeing what happens. 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.720 No, I'll do that, though you should. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.040 Buy yourself some nice camouflage clothing first, though it'll help 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:44.440 a lot. 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:45.680 I've already got that stuff. 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:51.000 Okay. So I also said that the blue pea hens 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.440 are sometimes considered drab, and I mean compared to the males. 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.959 They are not quite as easy on the eyes, right, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.920 But they're brown in their drab because the female blue 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:08.319 pea hens are responsible for guarding their nests, and even 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.160 though they spend a lot of time roosting in trees, 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.280 very often they sleep over night in trees. They build 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.680 their nests on the ground and little depressions on the 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.760 ground lined with sticks, and so they have to defend 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.600 that nest at all times. The easiest way to defend 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.720 it is to not be seen, so they steer clear 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:29.320 of being seen by things like leopards and tigers and 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:33.200 mongoose and all that by blending in with the surrounding. 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:34.520 Terrain and momos. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:40.640 Yeah, Momo doesn't actually want to predate the peacock. She 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.400 just wants it to know, like, this is Momo's yard. Yeah, peacock, 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.680 let them know who's boss, right, exactly, Momo's boss. 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.599 So the green pea fowl, you know, we're going to 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:52.120 talk about a little bit about all of them, even 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.880 though the blue are the most common, but the green, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.080 if it's not mating season, you may not be able 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.360 to tell them apart. They both have that really nice 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:04.800 green neck, that sort of light green here and there, 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:07.320 And during mating season is when you're going to see 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.480 the male's train grow a lot longer. But then they 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.839 molten they shed those so more or less they look 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:14.680 about the same when it's not mating season. 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.679 Yeah, and they're both very, very beautiful. They have amazingly 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.640 beautiful feathers as well. The little congo pea fowl, they're 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.559 kind of cute, dark blue neck feathers and dark green 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:30.040 and black train. Females are also brown, but they they're 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:34.960 just not Nothing can beat a blue peacock, Yeah, they 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.200 just can't. I'm sorry. That's a hill I'll die on 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:37.840 if I have to. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.520 Yeah, it's fantastic. And if you have one in your 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.559 neighborhood and as a pet in captivity, if one of 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:45.880 your neighbors does, you may just get used to that 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.000 sound and get used to seeing them because they could 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:52.040 live forty to fifty years when kept his pets. Not 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:53.960 suggesting that they be kept his pets. I'm just saying 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.000 that people do that. They live about ten to twenty 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:56.839 five years in the wild. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.520 Yeah. They can also kind of haul pretty. They can 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:02.760 run up to ten miles an hour when they need to. 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.200 Okay, you got to get a good running start if 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:06.040 you want to get off the ground. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:10.040 I guess with their little like aviator goggles. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:11.400 Yeah, totally. 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.040 Uh you want to take a break, Yeah all right, 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:14.640 well we're going. 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:14.880 To do that. 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:15.880 Everybody watch this. 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:22.000 Stop. 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.600 So I think it's high time that we talk about 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.080 what everybody thinks of when they think of peacocks, which 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.600 is that amazing train of feathers spread out in a 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:55.000 fan behind him, and it's correct to see him and 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.200 this is all part of the mating ritual, right, that's 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.680 the whole point of the those feathers. Again, the peacocks 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.880 will use it to try to or off or intimidate 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.200 trespassers in their territory, but for the most part, the 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.600 whole thing is to impress the pea hens. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.160 That's right. And when a male wants to impress a 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:17.600 p hen, that peacock will prop up those feathers into 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.840 a big, beautiful fan. Dave likens it. Dave helped us 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.120 with this to like an inverted umbrella, So it's sort 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.080 of you know, when you see this sort of pointed 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:33.320 back from their butthole area towards and they will shake 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.320 those feathers, and the shaking isn't just like, hey, look 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:41.840 how pretty and iridescent this gorgeous train is. Science has 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:48.680 discovered semi recently that those vibrations are in lockstep with 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:51.880 the p fowl's head feathers that they used to think 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.960 were just for show, but now they realize they are. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.040 They vibrate at the same intensity, and that they can actually, 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:00.640 you know, sort of feel when those tail feathers are 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:02.920 vibrating in their direction through their head feathers. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:04.520 Yeah, they're like receivers. 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:06.280 Isn't that neat super cool? 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.400 They resonate at at the same rate the male peacock 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:15.640 when he shakes those those feathers that fan, he can 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.400 shake it at more than twenty five times a second, 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.800 and that resonance I think it's like twenty five point 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.480 six hurts to be exact. That just happens to be 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.320 tuned in almost precisely to the cress feathers on the 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:31.320 pea fowl's head. And in addition to the site, apparently 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.080 p hens have amazing sight, so they're seeing everything that 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.679 the peacock's showing them, but also they're they're feeling it 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.320 like they're there. That's transmitting that vibration or resonance is 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.640 transmitting to their head. So it's quite a like you're 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.800 not going to turn down a peacock if you're a 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.280 p hen. They're pretty amazing dudes. 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.640 That's right. And before we get emails, I'm sure Josh 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.320 will admit that when you said it just happens to 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.920 vibrate the same frequency, that is no accident at all. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:01.920 It's called natural selection. Baby. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.160 Oh yeah, sure, you're. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:08.400 Cheeky, But I'm sure somebody would write in and say, no, Josh, 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.360 it didn't just happen to vibrate that way. It's by design. 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:14.000 Intelligent design people. 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:21.640 You mean no, no creationists, no by design as natural selection. 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:23.680 It's very teleological. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:25.600 I don't even know what that means. What's that mean? 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:30.480 It means that that everything has a purpose. So it 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:32.640 was like design to be a certain way. 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.440 I love that. See, people, when you don't know a word, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.400 it's okay to say I don't know what that means. 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.040 It sure is, Chuck, that's a great example. This set. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.400 So and you didn't talk down to me. You told 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.680 me the definition. Now I'm a little bit smarter because 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:45.960 of you. 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.000 Yeah, I wasn't like a dummy. Listen up. 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:54.480 Teleological, all right, So we need to cover this part 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.640 of the mating ritual because the fact of the matter 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:02.840 is the peacock loves to get around the block, if 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.520 you know what I mean. They have a social structure 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.280 called a lech l e k, which is basically a harem, 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.680 and the male is gonna mate with several females. But 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.840 here's the part that's a little maybe not intuitive. Even 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.840 though the male is mating with many females, the male 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:23.120 isn't running the show as far as who he gets 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:23.800 to do that with. 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.640 Yeah, so he's putting on this huge show not to 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:33.080 be like, I'm hypnotizing you, baby, do my bidding. He's 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.200 doing it because he's like, check me out, don't you 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:37.480 like me? Like look at this isn't aren't I amazing? 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.880 And the female can either be like I've seen better 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.800 or she could be like, yeah, you're right up my alley. 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.760 You just happen to be vibrating at my residence, right. 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:48.600 That's telelogical. 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.600 So yeah. So one of the ways that a male 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.520 will make himself seem even more virile than he is, 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.440 there's something called the hoot dash noise, and just the 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.040 hoot is the noise part. It's called a hoot dash 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.120 because right after the male hoots, he dashes toward the 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.800 female and they start mating. Right, it's actually quite disturbing 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.120 to see a lot of mating in the animal world 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:12.840 is really disturbing. 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.880 This saw video too, It's like the dash was very 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:16.640 close to the hoot. 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:21.800 Yeah, but that's what the noise is called. So the 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.560 males realize that like the more hoot dashing or hoot 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.680 sounds that they make the more females in earshot but 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:34.480 not in eyeshot. I guess well here, oh wow, Like 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:38.560 Terry really gets it on with a lot of p hens. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:40.520 I'm going to give him a shot next time he 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.320 comes around, because he must be very virile. Like a 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:48.080 third of those hoot dash sounds are faked essentially, that's right. 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:52.960 So when that finally happens, the female p hen will 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:58.160 scratch out a little depression in the ground basically and 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.400 line it with sticks, and that's their little They're going 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.360 to layford to eggs that are gonna hatch after four weeks, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.720 and those little pea chicks are up and around pretty 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.240 much right out of the gate. It'll take them a 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.360 couple of weeks to fly. And those boys that are 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:16.800 peacocks aren't gonna get those train feathers until their second year. 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.000 They're like, why don't you just chill for a couple 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:20.480 of years and not think about that thing? 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.000 Yeah, they are so cute too. Do not rely on 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:27.680 the internet for what a baby peacock looks like? Apparently 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:31.879 it's been a great example to demonstrate how much AI 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:33.280 is just screwing the internet. 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.440 Oh really, yeah? 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.679 Yeah. If you go on Google image search for baby peacocks, 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.000 like people think that there's pictures of like a giant 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.720 or like a miniatureized cute, big eyed peacock, and that 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.160 that's a baby peacock. They all look like p hens, 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.160 like little brown p hens. But even if they're peacocks, 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.440 that's how they start out. So just check it out. 0:17:55.720 --> 0:18:00.160 Just search the baby peacock for images, and it's a lie. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:02.000 It's a lie for sure. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:08.119 That's the cutest little iridescent blue baby duckling thing I've 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:08.600 ever seen. 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:14.280 Right, but it doesn't exist. That's not real. Hey, don't 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.200 blame me, blame the AI running the internet. 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.840 Yeah, those eyes are suspiciously large and disney like. 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.560 So. One other thing about the pea chicks is that 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:27.840 they stay with their mom for two to six months, 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.320 depending on whether they're in captivity in the wild. Moms 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:35.920 are much more maternal instinct wise in the wild than 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:40.399 they are in captivity, so you know, depends on the 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.560 situation how long they hang around them. But just watching, 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:45.400 have you ever seen a p hen with their little 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:46.600 pea chicks following her? 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:51.040 Uh no, I've just seen the turkey version at the camp. 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.919 It's very cute. Oh my god, I'll bet baby turkeys 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:54.840 are pretty cute too. 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.359 Yeah, the following around is just very cute because like 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.119 mom's up front and there's like six little guys and 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.840 girls just following it along like I can keep up, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:04.679 I can keep up. 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.000 And there's always one straggler that has to like run 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:08.560 faster when the group. 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.920 Yeah, Barney, love that guy who Barney. 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:15.000 That's a perfect name. 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.240 So the dads, as far as blue and green peacocks go, 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.160 are not around. There are complete absentee dads. But hey, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.359 if you're feeling bad for the family unit, just go 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.400 to the congo because those congo p fowl are monogamous. 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.760 They don't have those leks. They like one lady and 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.879 they hang around and feed and raise pea chicks with mommy. 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:37.600 Yeah pretty great. 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:38.600 Huh, yeah, it's great. 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.080 So I think we should talk a little bit about 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.399 natural selection, sexual selection Charles Darwin, kind of what you 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.080 were alluding to earlier. 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:52.520 Right, Yeah, because Charles Darwin was bringing a little too 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:54.880 much of his human baggage to some of this research. 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:56.280 It seems pretty clear, don't. 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:57.560 You think, Uh huh for sure? 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.359 And how was he doing that? 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:05.120 So Darwin grew up or lived in the Victorian era 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:10.080 where women were viewed as passive, submissive. They were just 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.800 there and had their fingers crossed that a man of 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.680 adequate dashingness would come along and marry them, right, So 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.919 that meant that it was the men, the males of 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:25.320 the Victorian era human species in England at least, that 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:28.520 were responsible for sexual selection. They chose the winners and 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.320 the losers among women. Well, Darwin was looking around the 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.679 world of nature basically all the other animals, and was like, 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:39.760 that's not really what I'm seeing out there. And in 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:46.480 the peacocks in particular, the females are again drab, really camouflaged, 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:50.920 while the males have these amazing beautiful displays. That strongly 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.520 suggests that the males are performing for the females and 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:57.120 it's the females who are doing the sexual selecting. Yeah, 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:59.760 and he had such a hard time wrestling with this. 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:01.520 There's a quote from him that said the sight of 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:04.399 a pea feather made him sick, right because he could 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:09.200 not give in. And he finally was you know, science 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:10.960 got the better of him. And he's like, that's just 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.840 how it is. I don't like it. But females in 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.679 the animal kingdom are typically the ones who select sexually 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:20.600 and end up are the They're the drivers of natural selection. 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:24.520 They choose what passes on to the next generation based 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:27.280 on the kind of male mates that they choose. 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.840 That's right, And that choosing is based on that flashy 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:32.520 display that we're going to talk a little bit more 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:35.119 about as far as the colors and stuff go, and 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.960 that vibration. But if they're science behind that, or is 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.679 there science behind that? Yes, In nineteen ninety four it 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.080