Proud as a Peacock

I don’t know if you really count peacocks as cute, but I think they’re beautiful and super interesting sooooo. They’re in the blog.

Although most people think that “peacock” is the name of the species of bird, the word actually only describes the males. The whole species is referred to as peafowl, and the birds are members of the pheasant family. Just so you know, females are referred to as peahens (they aren’t nearly as colorful as peacocks because they must blend in with brush to keep their eggs safe) and babies are called peachicks (not chickpeas).  There are three types of peafowl that can be found in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Africa, but most people are familiar with the Indian peafowl, which is the breed that is most likely to be seen in zoos. In the wild, peafowl may live in open or rain forests.

The peacock is most famous for his train, and the oldest peacocks – those that have survived the longest in the wild and are therefore better suited evolutionarily to mate – tend to have the longest trains. Because that’s what all that fuss is for! Attracting the ladies. The long feathers are actually not the peacock’s tail – they cover the base of the tail. Normally, a peacock’s train drags on the ground behind him, but when he is trying to attract a male, he lifts up his train by propping it up on the shorter base feathers. The train can span seven feet across by three feet tall in peacocks that are about six years old. To put on a real show, the peacock can quiver, which makes his feathers shimmer. And, just because I know you’re dying to know, those little round dots on the tail that look like eyes are called ocelli.

While you may think that peacock trains make them more susceptible to predator attacks (mongooses, leopards and tigers all attack the birds), when a predator catches the peacock tail, the feathers easily fall out and the bird can fly away. Plus, peacock’s are famous for their loud calls which easily alert other animal species of a predator in the area.

Peahens are (yet again) responsible for raising their children all on their own. They sit on their eggs for about four weeks, but as soon as the peachicks hatch, they are able to walk around and forage. They are not, however, able to fend for themselves and they can’t even fly to the safety of a tree to roost until they are about two weeks old. By two months, the peachicks – male and female – look just like their momma.

Okay, that’s probably enough about peacocks, peafowl and peachicks. Here are some videos!

http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/peafowl