Long-tailed widowbird male, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
© Richard Du Toit/Getty Images
Long-tailed widowbird male, Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
With a name like ‘widowbird,’ you’d expect this dusky male to have a low-key love life. But those 20-inch-long tail feathers are highly favored by females, even though they can make it difficult for the males to fly on windy days. The display has been the subject of much study regarding sexually selected traits and the tradeoffs between physical constraint and attracting a mate, since the tail feathers don’t seem to aid in flight and may even cause a hinderance. Ah, the things we do for love.
Related Images
Little Pigeon River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Baobab trees at sunset, Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar
Honey bee on lavender flowers
Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California
Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
An iris garden in Tokyo, Japan
Today on Bing
Common chameleon
May 09, 2025
Tulips at Emirgan Park in Istanbul, Türkiye
May 09, 2024
Barn owl sitting on a branch
May 09, 2020