Male Plumage

The male peacock tail contains spectacular beauty because of the brilliant, iridescent, diversified, colorful eye patterns. Researchers found that the feathers' bright colors are produced not by pigments, but rather by tiny, intricate two-dimensional crystal-like structures. Slight alterations in the spacing of these microscopic structures cause different wavelengths of light to be filtered and reflected, creating the feathers' many different iridescent hues.