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Advantages:
+ Males get to pass down their genes to future generations
+ Populations of peacocks survive to reproduce

Disadvantages:
- bright colorful feathers can make peacocks easy to spot for predators
- carrying around a big, heavy tail can make it difficult for the peacocks to escape danger

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As a whole, I think social behavior provides many benefits for living things. Courtship behavior in peacocks, for example, is very necessary for their survival because if peacocks didn't show off and attract mates, they wouldn't reproduce and their species could go extinct. Social behavior among groups of organisms helps them succeed in the most important struggle in nature: survival. Groups of animals often times work together to help each other survive, whether they're alarming others of danger, cooperating to support only a few reproductive members, doing favors for others, or even reducing their own fitness in order to help another member of the group. All of these actions are crucial to the survival of the group and the individuals. Without social behavior, only a few species would be able to survive, which include those whose members live solitarily. However, the prey of these individuals may be a social species, so not even these animals could survive. Animals behave a certain way for a reason, and survival is the most critical reason for social behavior.

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Peacocks evolved to have this feature because they needed to reproduce in order to stay alive as a species. The peacock's magnificent tail evolved as a result of sexual selection. A study in the journal Behavioural Ecology found that the male's plumage indicates the strength of his immune system, which is a signal to females that he is strong and a worthy mate. Also, males with larger tails prove to females that they are fit because they have been able to survive with those tails, and not get slowed down by their feathers and caught by predators. Females look for males with the biggest tails and the most eye spots on their tails, so the males with these features are the ones that get to reproduce and pass on this trait to their offspring. With this being the case, over time, more males are born with the bigger and better plumage because their fathers were those with the big tails and the large amount of eye spots. Those with smaller and less impressive tails don't reproduce, so their genes for the small tails don't get passed along, and that trait eventually goes out of the gene pool. Natural selection has filtered the unsuccessful males out and kept those that are most successful in attracting mates. Male peacocks needed this adaptation because without it, they wouldn't be able to attract mates, which in turn means no reproduction.

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Peacock Dance Display - Peacocks Opening Feathers HD & Bird Sound

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Feedback Online: from the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. (2002). Retrieved April 19,

2018, from <http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/asab/exercises/gcse/peacock_courtship.html>.

Gross, R. E. (2015, August 17). Peacock evolution through sexual selection: Feathers, sounds,

eye-tracking, and lekking. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from <http://www.slate.com/blogs/

wild_things/2015/08/17/peacock_evolution_through_sexual_selection_feathers_sounds_
eye_tracking.html>.

Mac, D. (2016, April 27). What are the advantages and disadvantages of courtship behavior in

animals? Retrieved April 19, 2018, from <https://socratic.org/questions/

what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-courtship-behaviour-in-animals>.

O'Connell, S. (2002, September 9). How Did the Peacock Get His Tail? Retrieved April 19, 2018, from

<https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0909_peacock.html>.

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~ Male peacocks fan out their huge, colorful tales to try to attract mates. Females choose their mates based on the males' tails.
~ A larger amount of eye spots on the male's tale suggests that he is older and a good mate because he has survived long and is healthy.

~ Females are attracted to the call the male sends out to get the females to go to their display site. Males coo, rustle their feathers, and move around to keep the females interested, and hopefully attract a mate.
~ Peahens will not mate with the first male they see. Instead, they will look at several before making a choice, so that they choose the best one. This is why the males must show off to try to impress the females.