🐾 Indian Peafowl

Indian Peafowl

▶

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

Tap a video to play it

🔍 See more videos →

Photos

✖ ❮ ❯

Who it is

• Scientific name: Pavo cristatus
• Family & relatives: A large member of the pheasant family Phasianidae, related to chickens, turkeys, and other pheasants.
• How to spot it: The male (peacock) is brilliant blue with a huge fan of shimmering eye-spotted tail feathers; the female (peahen) is brown.

Its body & abilities

• Size: The body is about 1 m long, and the male's train can add another 1.5 m.
• Weight: Roughly 4 to 6 kg (9 to 13 lb).
• Body & adaptations: The male's long shimmering train is not really its tail but very long back feathers he raises into a giant fan.
• Top speed: A quick runner that prefers dashing away, and can fly short distances up to about 16 km/h.
• Strength: Though it looks delicate, it can burst into flight to reach a high branch or roof to escape danger.
• Senses: Sharp eyesight and good hearing help it spot danger and show off its colors to a mate.
• Growing up: Fluffy chicks hatch able to walk and follow their mother, and males grow their long train after about three years.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Open forests, farmland, and villages, often near water and tall trees for roosting.
• Where in the world: Native to India, Sri Lanka, and nearby South Asia, and kept in parks worldwide.
• Territory: Males set up display areas during breeding season and call to keep rivals away.

What it eats

• Diet: An omnivore that pecks up plants and small animals and drinks from ponds and streams.
• Favorite foods: Seeds, grains, fruit, and flowers, plus insects, worms, and small lizards or snakes.
• How it hunts: Not much of a hunter; it strolls and scratches the ground, snapping up insects and small creatures as it feeds.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Walks and runs on strong legs and flies up heavily to roost in tall trees at night.
• When it is active: Active by day, feeding in the open and roosting high in trees to stay safe at night.
• Family life: Social birds living in small groups; a group is sometimes called a party or an ostentation.
• How it talks: Gives loud, far-carrying calls, and the male rattles his train and dances to impress a peahen.
• Babies: The male fans his shimmering train to court females; the peahen alone lays and hatches her eggs in a ground nest.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: It helps control insects and spread seeds; tigers, leopards, wild dogs, and large birds prey on it.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, common and protected across much of its range.
• Dangers: Dies mainly from predators, especially of eggs and chicks, and sometimes disease.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: About 15 to 20 years in the wild and up to around 25 years in captivity.
• In our culture: The national bird of India and a worldwide symbol of beauty, celebrated in art and stories.
• Where to see it: Parks and reserves across India, plus gardens, palaces, and reputable zoos worldwide.
• Fun fact: The eye-spots on a peacock's train shimmer and shift color as he shakes his feathers to dazzle a peahen.