A few nice animal health images I found:
Peacock Plumage (3 of 4)
Image by Tony Fischer Photography
The male peafowl, or peacock, has long been known for and valued for its brilliant tail feathers. The bright spots on it are known as "eyes", and inspired the Greek myth that Hera placed the hundred eyes of her slain giant Argus on the tail of her favorite bird.
Close-up of a male Indian Peafowl's plumage
Indian Peafowl has iridescent blue-green or green coloured plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock, also termed the "train," is not the tail quill feathers but highly elongated upper tail feather coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the train is fanned. The actual tail feathers are short and gray-colored and can be seen from behind when a peacock's train is fanned in a courtship display. During the molting season, the males shed their stunning train feathers and reveal the unassuming gray-colored tail which is normally hidden from view beneath the train. Both species have a crest atop the head.
The female (peahen) Indian Peafowl has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail feather coverts of the male but has a crest. The female can also display her plumage to ward off female competition or danger to her young.
The Green Peafowl is very different in appearance to the Indian Peafowl. The male has green and gold plumage and has an erect crest. The wings are black with a sheen of blue.
Unlike the Indian Peafowl, the Green Peahen is very similar to the male, only having shorter upper tail feather coverts and slightly less iridescent in some regions. Like other peafowl, it is very difficult to distinguish a juvenile male from an adult female. Moreover, the sexes of the various Green Peafowl species are almost impossible to tell apart in the field during the months when the male has no train.
Many of the brilliant colours of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers.
Different colours correspond to different length scales of the periodic structures. For brown feathers, a mixture of red and blue is required: one colour is created by the periodic structure, and the other is a created by a Fabry-Perot interference peak from reflections off the outermost and innermost boundaries of the periodic structure.[citation needed]
Such interference-based structural colour is especially important in producing the peacock's iridescent hues (which shimmer and change with viewing angle), since interference effects depend upon the angle of light, unlike chemical pigments.
The plumage of the peacock, and the peahen's preference for its exorbitance, is a classical example of sexual selection and especially the handicap principle. However, in recent years scientific research has shown that the size and brilliance of a male's plumage does not meaningfully correlate with his mating success nor his health, and that instead the key factor for attracting females is the vocalizations made prior to mating.
source: wiki
Zanzibar VETCAP, July 2011
Image by US Army Africa
Suleiman Omar Ali (left), a community animal health worker, and U.S. Army Spc. Shawn England, a 490th Civil Affairs Battalion Functional Specialty Team veterinary technician, give a goat dewormer medication during a Veterinary Civil Action Program July 25 in Makoongwe Village, Pemba, Zanzibar.
Photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. R.J. Biermann
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official Vimeo video channel: www.vimeo.com/usarmyafrica
Join the U.S. Army Africa conversation on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArmyAfrica
