Iridescent Seduction

Did you know that the famous peacock eyes in their tails are iridescent? Now you do! Iridescence is an optical phenomenon of surfaces in which hue changes in correspondence with the angle from which a surface is viewed. It is the property of certain surfaces that appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is commonly seen in things such as soap bubbles, butterfly wings, clouds, and sea shells. Female Golden Stag Beetles have highly iridescent shells... and so do peacocks' tails. As with many birds, vibrant plumage colors of the peacock eyes are not primarily pigments, but optical interference Bragg reflections. Such interference-based structural color is important for the peacock's iridescent hues that change and shimmer with viewing angle, because unlike pigments, interference effects depend on light angle. When the peacocks dance, the peahens are speechless from the kaledoiscope show they see and instantly fall in love. It's a done deal! Here is one peacock feather that does change colors depending on how I look at it. I assure you that I did not pluck this out of any male bird's tail. This was a lost and found item and I found it. Instead of reading the tea leaves, I read this once in a while like today, when it rains outside. I see....