Indian Peafowl

The Indian Peafowl (*Pavo cristatus*) is a peafowl species native to India. It has been introduced to many other countries.

The Peacock is brightly coloured, with a blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped wire-like feathers and is best known for the long train made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers which bear colourful eyespots. These stiff feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. Despite the length and size of these covert feathers, peacocks are still capable of flight. Peahens lack the train, have a white face and iridescent green lower neck, and dull brown plumage. The Indian Peafowl lives on the ground or on land where they forage for berries and grains, but also prey on Snakes Lizards and Small Rodents. Their loud calls make them easy to detect, and in forest areas often indicate the alarm of a predator such as a Tiger. they forage on the ground in small groups and try to escape on foot through undergrowth and avoid flying, though they fly into tall trees to roost.

Description

Peacocks are a larger sized bird. The females, or peahens, are smaller. Indian peafowl are among the largest and heaviest. So far as is known, only the Wild Turkey. grows much heavier. The male is metallic blue on the crown, the feathers of the head being short and curled. The fan-shaped crest on the head is made of feathers with bare black shafts and tipped with bluish-green webbing. A white stripe above the eye and a crescent shaped white patch below the eye are formed by bare white skin. The sides of the head have iridescent greenish blue feathers. The back has scaly bronze-green feathers with black and copper markings. The scapular and the wings are buff and barred in black.

The adult peahen has a rufous-brown head with a crest as in the male but the tips are chestnut edged with green. The upper body is brownish with pale mottling. The tail is dark brown. The lower neck is metallic green and the breast feathers are dark brown glossed with green

The most common calls are a loud pia-ow or may-awe before the Monsoon season and may be delivered in alarm or when disturbed by loud noises. In forests, their calls often indicate the alarm of a predator such as the tiger. They also make many other calls such as a rapid series of ka-aan ka-aan or a rapid kok-kok, They often emit an explosive low-pitched honk.

Behaviour

Peafowl are best known for the male's display feathers which, despite actually growing from their back, are thought of as a tail. The "train" is in reality made up of the enormously elongated upper tail coverts. The tail itself is brown and short as in the peahen. The colours result not from any green or blue pigments but from the micro-structure of the feathers and the resulting optical phenomena. The long train feathers (and tarsal spurs) of the male develop only after the second year of life. Fully developed trains are found in birds older than four years. In northern India, these begin to develop each February and are moulted at the end of August. The moult of the flight feathers may be spread out across the year.

Peafowl roost in groups during the night on tall trees but may sometimes make use of rocks, buildings or pylons. In the Gir forest, they choose tall trees in steep river banks. Birds arrive at dusk and call frequently before taking their position on the roost trees.

Feeding

Peafowl are omnivorous and eat seeds, insects, fruits, small mammals and reptiles. They feed on small snakes but keep their distance from larger ones. In the Gir forest a large percentage of their food is made up of the berries. Around cultivated areas, peafowl feed on a wide range of crops such as groundnut, tomato, paddy, chili and even bananas.

Predators

Adult peafowl can escape ground predators by flying into trees. Large animals such as Leopards, Dholes, Wolves, Lions, and Tigers, can sometimes ambush them however, and in some areas such as the Gir Forest, peafowl are common prey for such formidable predators. They are also sometimes hunted by large birds of prey such as the Changeable hawk-eagle and the Indian eagle-owl. Chicks are somewhat more prone to predation than adult birds.

Peahen with Three Chicks