European peafowl

The **European peafowl** (*Pavo bravardi*), also known as the **European peacock**, the **Eurasian peafowl**, the **sunset peafowl**, the **orange-breasted peafowl**, the **white-masked peafowl**, and simply the **peafowl** or **peacock**, is a species of peafowl that originally lived in Europe during the Late Pliocene and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and introduced throughout the modern swamps, forests, open woodlands, grasslands, shrublands, and scrublands across Europe and western Asia to help boost biodiversity. The European peafowl is the largest known species of peafowl, known to be naturally slightly larger than the largest known individuals of Indian peafowls, making it closer to being turkey-sized than other peafowl species. Unlike pure wild Indian peafowls, European peafowls are highly adaptable to changes in temperatures, including cold and snowy forests and prairies, allowing the European peafowls to survive in a wider range of forest and grassland habitats than its relatives. As some of its common names suggests, the male European peafowl is primarily black, white, and orange in color, as opposed to the grays, greens, and blues of its Asian relatives, while the females are dull grayish-brown in color without the impressive set of large orange tail feathers of the males. Like other peafowl species, males of this species are best known for the male's extravagant 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 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. Peafowl forage on the ground in small groups, known as musters, that usually have a cock and 3 to 5 hens. After the breeding season, the flocks tend to be made up only of females and young. They are found in the open early in the mornings and tend to stay in cover during the heat of the day. They are fond of dust-bathing and at dusk, groups walk in single file to a favourite waterhole to drink. When disturbed, they usually escape by running and rarely take to flight. European peafowls produce loud calls especially in the breeding season. They may call at night when alarmed and neighbouring birds may call in a relay like series. Nearly seven different call variants have been identified in the peacocks apart from six alarm calls that are commonly produced by both sexes. European peafowls roost in groups during the night on tall trees but may sometimes make use of rocks, buildings or pylons. In some of the forests in eastern Europe, they chose tall trees in steep river banks. Birds arrive at dusk and call frequently before taking their position on the roost trees. Due to this habit of congregating at the roost, many population studies are made at these sites. The population structure is not well understood. In a study in northern France, the number of males was 170–210 for 100 females but a study involving evening counts at the roost site in southern Italy suggested a ratio of 47 males for 100 females. As with other peafowl species, European peafowls 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 forests of France and Germany, a large percentage of their food is made up of the fallen berries. Around cultivated areas, peafowl feed on a wide range of crops such as groundnut, tomato, paddy, chili and even bananas. Around human habitations, they feed on a variety of food scraps and even human excreta. In the countryside, it is particularly partial to crops and garden plants. Hybridization between European peafowls and introduced Indian peafowls due occasionally occur, but European and Indian peafowls usually avoid each other to prevent hybridizing, despite being related and part of the same genus. The conservation status of the European peafowl is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the European peafowl's wide range and tolerates many of the human activities.