Expert: Roger Lederer - 1/31/2007

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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How does the peacock get pregnant? Do peacocks actually have intercourse? I heard that the peacock gets pregnant from the males tears, Is this wrong?
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Peacocks reproduce like any other bird. The male mounts the female on the back and presses his cloaca (sexual/waste opening) against the female's and transfer sperm. The sperm travel up her oviduct and fertilize an ovum which develops into an egg. Once the ovum is fertilized, it takes only about 24 hours for one eggs to be produced and laid. I've heard the myth about getting pregnant from male's tears and it's absolutely wrong. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com

Is there any proof or web sites that can show this process?

Answer
If you are asking if there is proof of copulation by the way the male mounts the female, it's in every ornithology book and any other book that talks in detail about bird reproduction. Here's a website that discusses bird copulation: http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Copulation.html
There are all kinds of myths about Peacock tears, starting with the ancient Greeks. But they are just myths. The biology and reproduction of peacocks is just like that of other birds. Roger Lederer