Color variation question

[MinxFox]

Hey there has been something on my mind every now and then...My first peacock ran away a few years ago, his name was Fire and he was an India Blue, and to me his train always had a pink/orange/yellow/green shine to it in different light. Mainly it was very vibrant in color. When I got Dragon my pied India Blue I noticed his train didn't look like what I remembered Fire's train looking like but I dismissed it. Dragon my current peacock has a train that I would describe is looking more green/blue/blueish purple. Then my dad came back from a hunting trip where he stayed at a friend's place. The friend has a few India blue peafowl and he sent a bunch of train feathers home with my dad. My dad even commented on the difference saying that when he saw the peacocks their trains were very colorful and had a pinkish shine. I took an eye feather I had from Dragon and compared it to a similarly sized eye feather from the feathers my dad brought back.

The difference was amazing it made Dragon's feathers look bland! Dragon's feathers shine, but these seemed to sparkle and they had more of a golden look whereas Dragon's are more of an emerald look. Also that was not all, all the little strands (herl) were thicker than Dragon's. Could it be diet? The peacocks at the friend's place free-range and I don't think Dragon has free-ranged a day in his life. Do you see variations like this normally? Dragon's feathers do show that pinkish shine but rarely, mainly if his train gets wet.

I have just been curious about this for a long time...

 

[TV]

In my personal experience, free range birds colors always seem more brilliant and the birds are better conditioned overall. The best example I had was a spalding that disappeared for a whole summer but showed back up in the late fall. Oh my goodness he was outstanding. The blue and orange on his face just popped and the green and gold in his feathers glowed. needless to say, I like to let them free range whenever possible. It seems the bugs, plants, dirt, and whatever do them a world of good. Of course it isn't always practical to let them but if you can, wow.