Peafowl

Green Peafowl

 Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring called peachicks. The adult female peafowl is grey and/or brown. Peachicks can be between yellow and a tawny colour with darker brown patches. The term also embraces the Congo Peafowl, which is placed in a separate genus Afropavo.

Blue Peacock

A seven-year study of a population of free-ranging peacocks, conducted in Japan, came to the conclusion that female peahens are virtually indifferent towards the male display of plumage. A suggestion is that the plumage may have been a signal that was important earlier but has become obsolete. However, there was little plumage variance in the studied population. Other researchers have found the plumage to be important. Joseph Jordania recently suggested that the peacock's brilliantly colored and oversized tail (with plenty of eyespots), as well as its piercing, loud call, evolved through the forces of natural selection, not sexual selection, and were primarily designed to intimidate rivals and competitors, not to attract females.


The species are :


- Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) 

Indian Peacock

The Indian peafowl or Blue peafowl is a large and brightly coloured bird of the pheasant family native to South Asia, but introduced and semi-feral in many other parts of the world. The peacock (male) is predominantly blue with a 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.

Indian Peahen

These stiff and elongated feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. They are found mainly on the ground in open forest or cultivation where they forage for berries, grains but will also prey on snakes, lizards, and small rodents. Their loud calls make them easy to detect, and in forest areas, often indicate the presence of a predator such as a tiger. It is a bird that is celebrated in Indian and Greek mythology and is the national bird of India.



- Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus) 

Green Peacock

The Java Peafowl, is a large Galliform bird that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Green Peafowl, but this term should only be used to describe the nominate subspecies which is endemic to the island of Java. It is the closest relative of the Indian Peafowl or Blue Peafowl, which is mostly found on the Indian subcontinent.

Green Peahen

Green Peafowl are generally more silent than Indian Peafowl. The male of some subspecies, especially imperator, have a loud call of ki-wao, which is often repeated. The female has a loud aow-aa call with an emphasis on the first syllable. The male may also make a similar call. The males call from their roost sites at dawn and dusk. Green Peafowl are large birds, amongst the largest living galliforms in terms of overall size, though rather lighter-bodied than the Wild Turkey, and perhaps the longest extant, wild bird in total length.



- Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis) 

Congo Peacock

The Congo Peacock is a species of peafowl. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Afropavo. The male is a large bird of up to 64–70 cm in length. Its feathers are deep blue with a metallic green and violet tinge. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, and a black tail with fourteen feathers. Its head is adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers on its crown.

Congo Peahen

The female measures up to 60–63 cm and is generally a chestnut brown bird with a black abdomen, metallic green back, and a short chestnut brown crest. Both sexes resemble immature Asian Peafowl, with early stuffed birds being erroneously classified as such before they were officially discovered as a unique species