Alternative name: Common Peafowl
- Pavo cristatus
Identification
Male; 180–230 cm (80-90½ in); female 90–100 cm (35½-40 in)
Male tail very long in breeding plumage 140–160 cm (50-63 in)
- Bluey-green overall plumage
Female Long tail 32·5–37·5 (12¾-14¾)
- Dull greenish-grey plumage, with some iridescent blue
Distribution
Asia: found in East Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.
Introduced populations occur in Florida, California, Texas, South America, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius Island, Reunion Island, Indonesia, New Guinea, British Columbia, Hawaii, Australia, and Croatia.
In Florida and Texas, many of the birds are hybrids with Green Peafowl, but no pure population of that species exists there.
Taxonomy
Traditionally believed to be monotypic[1]; but birds of Sri Lanka have been suggested as a second subspecies.
Habitat
Dry semi-desert grasslands, scrub and deciduous forests.
Behaviour
They forage and nests on the ground but roost high in the trees.
Breeding
Eggs are laid on alternate days; the clutch consisting of 4-8 light brown eggs. Incubation is by the female alone and lasts for about 28 days. The male takes no part in raising the young as he is Polygynous with up to six hens.
Diet
They are an omnivorous species, eating seeds and green plants, fruit and berries, insects, some reptiles, including small snakes.
Vocalisation
Calls by many adults in early morning chorus during Monsoon.
Bharatpur Keoladeo National Park, India, July-2015
Call given by one male, early summer.
Bharatpur Keoladeo National Park, India, April-2012
Both recordings by Alok Tewari
Gallery
Click images to see larger version
Immature Male
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dist. Jhajjar, India, 13 August 2015
Photo © by Delia Todd
Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland, 16 December 2016
Young chicks with mother
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India, 25 September-2018
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2015)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Indian Peafowl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Indian_Peafowl
External Links
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