Courtship behaviour is the term used to define mate-selection rituals. It displays a set of behaviours through which an animal attempts to attract a mate. The displays enable individuals to present their traits, such as size, colour, plumage, or abilities to a possible mate. These rituals are usually carried out by a male of the species and the female judges and either selects or rejects him based on the display. Courtship behaviours allow the female to select the best mate with the best features to pass on to the next generations. However, sometimes the female will select based on what they simply find attractive. An example of this is peacocks and peahens. Peacocks will display their tails and feathers while creating a rattling sound and showing off the bright iridescent colour of their tail. The female will then choose to mate with the peacock with the brightest and longest tail. They do this because a bright and well-groomed tail shows that the peacock is in good health. While the length and colour will show that the peacock has been able to survive predation for a long enough time to want to reproduce now. It shows that the peacock has the ability to survive and protect. The males have great reproductive success as they will be able to successfully attract females with their tails. The females will not be affected as they are the ones selecting the male. However, one situation where the females will be affected is if the numbers of peacocks decline due to predation (the survival rate of peacocks also decrease).
