By Ella Davies
Reporter, BBC Nature
The birds are known for shaking their tail feathers but Canadian researchers have revealed a further sexual tactic.
Peacocks have a wide vocabulary of calls, and during mating they make a distinctive hoot.
Biologists also recorded males making this sound when out of sight of females and suggest such deception could prove rewarding for the birds.
The findings are published in The American Naturalist.
Peacocks are one of the most obvious examples of advertising sexual fitness in the animal kingdom with their eye-catching plumage and strutting courtship displays.
The mating behaviour takes place in open areas of land referred to as a "lek".
When a male has successfully attracted a female, or peahen, it rushes at her making a distinctive hooting call before attempting to mate.
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