PEACOCK Pavo cristatus

Origin: India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia

The peafowl are forest birds that nest on the ground, but prefer to roost in trees, flying up onto the branches.

Males have a bright blue neck and a large feather train.The train actually grows from the back, not the tail. It can take 3 years for the male to develop his train. The large train is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird’s back and touches the ground on either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, colour, and quality of these feather trains.

The female is called a peahen and she is not as colourful as the peacock. She doesn’t have long train feathers.

At the end of summer, the birds moult, losing their feathers and will grow them back by Christmas.

They are native to India and Sri Lanka, and they are the national bird of India.