Data from: Deceptive copulation calls attract female visitors to peacock leks

Theory holds that dishonest signaling can be stable if it is rare. We
report here that some peacocks perform specialized copulation calls
(hoots) when females are not present and the peacocks are clearly not
attempting to copulate. Because these solo hoots are almost always given
out of view of females, they may be dishonest signals of male mating
attempts. These dishonest calls are surprisingly common, making up about a
third of all hoot calls in our study populations. Females are more likely
to visit males after they give a solo hoot call, and we confirm using a
playback experiment that females are attracted to the sound of the hoot.
Our findings suggest that both sexes use the hoot call tactically: females
to locate potential mates and males to attract female visitors. We suggest
that the solo hoot may be a deceptive signal that is acquired and
maintained through reward-based learning.

理论表明，不诚实的信号若较为罕见，则可保持稳定。本研究报道，部分雄孔雀在雌孔雀不在场、且显然未进行交配尝试时，会发出特化的交配鸣叫（hoots）。由于此类单独发出的鸣啼几乎均处于雌孔雀的视野之外，它们或可被视作雄性交配意图的不诚实信号。这类不诚实鸣叫的出现频率远超预期，在我们的研究种群中，约占所有鸣啼记录的三分之一。研究发现，雌孔雀在雄孔雀发出单独鸣啼后，造访该雄孔雀的概率显著提升；我们还通过回放实验证实，雌孔雀会被该鸣啼声所吸引。我们的研究结果显示，两性均会策略性地利用该鸣啼：雌性借此定位潜在配偶，雄性则借此吸引雌性到访。我们推测，这种单独鸣啼或为一种通过奖励式学习获得并维持的欺骗性信号。