Indian Peafowl
An Indian Peacock displaying.
: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Galliformes : Phasianidae : Pavo : cristatus
Binomial name
Pavo cristatus Linnaeus, 1758

Indian Peahen with chicks

The Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, is a species of bird in the peafowl genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The Indian Peafowl is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka.

It is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 4-8 eggs. It eats mainly seeds, but also some insects and fruit.

The Indian Peacock has beautiful iridescent blue-green plumage. His tail feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when it is fanned. The female plumage is a mixture of dull green, grey and iridescent blue, with the greenish-grey predominating. Females lack the long tails of the male. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen.

Peafowl are most notable for the male's extravagant tail, a result of sexual selection, which it displays as part of courtship. The peacock's rituals include the display of its startling plumage and a loud call, as heard in Peacock Mating Call.mp4 (491KB in MPEG-4 format).

This species will hybridise with the closely related Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus).

Peacocks are often kept as domesticated animals for decoration. Peacock is the national bird of India.

Reference

• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
• Steven K. Blau (Jan. 2004), “Light as a Feather: Structural Elements Give Peacock Plumes Their Color", Physics Today 57 (1), 18–20.
• World Birds Taxonomic List
  as of 2003-02-21