The Indian Peafowl

 

 

The Indian Peafowl or Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) 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 species was first named and described by Linnaeus in 1758. The name Pavo cristatus is still in use now. The male peacock 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. These stiff and elongated feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. The female lacks the train, has a greenish lower neck and a duller brown plumage. The Indian Peafowl is found mainly on the ground in open forest or on land under 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. They forage on the ground in small groups and will usually try to escape on foot through undergrowth and avoid flying, though they will fly into tall trees to roost. The bird is celebrated in Indian and Greek mythology and is the national bird of India. The Indian Peafowl is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

This is my very first set of wild life pictures. The average or low quality of the pictures indicates my lack of experience and photographic skills. I need and Hope to improve on that.

I found these Peafowls in a rubber plantation near Mangalam Dam in Palakkad district. I could not get any closer and hence the lack of details. And some of the images are a bit out of focus.

The local people say that the number of these birds and wild life in general has increased considerably over the past two years due to some tightened law enforcement practices by the forest and wild life department. Glad about that and being able to bring these images to you at least in this standard to begin with.