Peacock



**Common name:** Peacock (male), Peahen (female), Peafowl (both male & female present), Peachicks (baby peafowl)

**Scientific Name:** Pavo cristatus (Indian peafowl) and Pavo muticus (Green peafowl)

**Class:** Phasianidae

**Size:** Body - 35 - 50 inches; Tail - 5 feet; Weight - 8.75 - 13 pounds


 * Location: **There are 3 subspecies of peafowl. The Indian (blue) peafowl, which is found in India & Sri Lanka. The green peafowl, which is found in Java and Myanmar (Burma), mostly Asiatic, and is on the verge of extinction. The Congo peafowl, which lives near the Congo river basin in Africa.

**Diet:** Ground feeders. Flower petals, ticks, seeds, ants, termites, mice, and small reptiles.


 * Description of Habitat: **They live in open forest area, bushlands, and sometimes the rainforest. They like scattered trees to nest in.


 * Living Requirements: **They are very flexible with their environments. As long as they have trees & bushes to hide in, they'll call it home.


 * Life cycle (Peculiarities): **The males use their beautiful fan tail to attract females. To get the females attention the male will do a complex dance in which he shakes his tail feathers to make them rattle. When the feathers rattle, it shows off the colors of the feathers. The females take admiration to the male's "eye" markings. It is said that the female chooses the male with the most impressive tail, and with the most "eyes". Males usually have a group of 2 - 5 hens. Each hen lays 3 - 5 eggs. The eggs are born within 28 days and the chicks are able to walk & eat on their own within hours. The chicks can fly after about a week.


 * Male & Female difference: **Females are not as colorful as males and have a much smaller train (tail). This allows the females to blend into their surroundings when caring for their young.

A group of peafowl is called a "Party". Peafowl do NOT get along with other domestic birds. They can fly, but only short distances. Peafowl can live to be 20 years in the wild and 40 years in captivity. People in India have kept peafowl as tame birds for over 3,000 years. Leopards and Tigers favor them in food. Yummy!
 * [[image:White%20Peacock.jpg width="255" height="437" align="left" caption="White peafowl. NOT ALBINO"]] 2 - 3 interesting facts: **


 * Human Impact on organism: **They are easy to tame and are admired by Indians (from India).

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