Re: Tail Feathers and sexual selection

[Stephen Greenfield & Kit Hansen <>]

At 05:28 PM 3/25/98, Mark E. Mulhollam wrote:
>> ...Can eye
>>colour be used to monitor short-term changes in health?  It is a brilliant
>>idea.  Does anyone know of any published information on this topic?  
>>Dr. Wm. James Davis
>>
>    Yes, it appears eye color can indicate health status and this may be 
>used as a basis for female choice.  ...

I'm a little embarassed to bring an anecdotal observation to this scholarly
discussion, but I was made aware of the display function of eyes when
watching my brother's Orange-winged Amazon.  It periodically dances (last
time I saw it, its favorite song was Paul Simon's "Will you be my
bodyguard") and, along with bobbing and fanning its tail, it does the most
startling thing with its eyes: suddenly snapping the pupils from the widest
to the tightest "aperture", which displays the red and yellow iris.  Must
be a modification of some normal display behavior...