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Peafowl: Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
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FoodPeafowl are omnivorous and consume plant parts, flower petals, seed heads, insects, and other arthropods, as well as reptiles and amphibians.Although possessing metatarsal spursâ€""thorns" used for kicking, they are used only for defense against predators. HabitatAsiatic peafowl like the Indian Peafowl and especially the Dragonbirds or Green Peafowl occupy a similar niche as the roadrunners, Secretary Bird, and Seriama. All of these birds hunt for small animals, minnows, and arthropods on the ground, in shallow streams and frequently in tall grass habitats. Small snakes and other reptiles are the preferred diet of wild peafowl.Peafowl inhabit tropical savannah and riparian forests where they hunt for small animals in close social units of related birds that may span many generations. PlumageThe male (peacock) has beautiful iridescent blue-green or green coloured plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock, also termed as the "train," is in fact not the true tail but the highly elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the tail is fanned. Both species have a head crest.The female (peahen) has a mixture of dull green, brown, and gray in her plumage. She lacks the long tail of the male but has a crest. Females can also display their plumage to ward off danger to her young or other female competition. Many of the brilliant colors of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers. Different colors correspond to different length scales of the periodic structures. For brown feathers, a mixture of red and blue is required—one color is created by the periodic structure, while the other is a created by a Fabry-Perot interference peak from reflections off the outermost and innermost boundaries of the periodic structure. Such interference-based structural color is especially important in producing the peacock's iridescent hues (which shimmer and change with viewing angle), since interference effects depend upon the angle of light, unlike chemical pigments. BehaviourPeafowl are considered to be polygamous. However in captivity, Green Peafowl and African Peafowl are monogamous, with males assisting in nest defense, chick rearing, and chick brooding. The male's bond with offspring may extend indefinitely. First-year chicks that have been weaned by their mothers generally join their father's social unit to forage and rest.In Green Peafowl, it is impossible to distinguish juvenile and subadult green peafowls from their mothers and hence their polygynous nature is hard to establish. There is some anectodotal evidence suggesting that Green Peafowl may have very complex social lives that may include the adoption of one and two year old juveniles by their three and four year old sub-adult siblings. Peafowl are unusual amongst the Galliformes in their capacity for sustained flight. All known genera of the peafowl family exhibit complex flight displays.
African Peafowl have unusually large wings in relation to their weight. The wings have a highly unusual shape as well. The African Peafowl or Afropavo wing is prominently marked in both sexes in striking patterns and colours. All known species of peafowl perch on emergent trees that stand above the canopy. Chicks of Indian Peafowl are sometimes carried on the backs of the parent birds as they fly into the security of a tree to roost. Courtship |
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NBC's 1950s "peacock" logo. |
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