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 favoured 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 trade-offs between physical constraint and attracting a mate, since the tail feathers don’t seem to aid in flight and may even cause a hindrance. Ah, the things we do for love.
Related Images
Ruff male displaying on Varanger Peninsula in Norway
Wisteria blooms at Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan
Close-up view of a Komondor
Hummingbird near blooming aloe vera in Laguna Beach, California, USA
For Earth Month, a symmetrical forest known as a Nelder plot
A red maple leaf in Mont-Saint-Bruno Conservation Park, Quebec, Canada
Laysan albatross chick on Midway Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Crocus flowers
Bing Today Images
Common chameleon
May 09, 2025
Tulips at Emirgan Park in Istanbul, Türkiye
May 09, 2024
The Yorkshire Dales, UK
May 09, 2023
Sunset over Buttermere, Lake District, Cumbria
May 09, 2021
Barn owl sitting on a branch
May 09, 2020
Zebras in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
May 09, 2019
Xinyuan County, China
May 09, 2016
