INDIAN PEAFOWL (Pavo cristatus): Let the first post on this Blog begin with the national bird of India, the Peacock. These are native to Sri Lanka and India, but can also be found naturally in Pakistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Assam, Nagaland, Burma, Java, Ceylon, Malaya, and the Congo. Not capable of distant flight, neither adapted for long terrestrial traverses, the Arakan hills prevented this species from moving naturally to the east, while the mountains of the Himalayas and Karakoram further prevented their travel north.

They weigh in between 2.7-6 kg and have a wingspan of 1.4-1.6 m. They vary widely in length from 0.86-2.12 m. This species has long, strong, grayish-brown legs equipped for running away into brush for safety. Both sexes are equipped with spurs that are around 2.5 cm long; males will use them during the breeding season to ward off other competing males. Females are brown, grey, and cream-colored. Chicks are usually a light yellow to brown color. The males have a long train, about 1.2 m in length on average, from June to December. The train is discarded in January, but is grown again at a rapid pace when breeding season approaches. Their necks and breasts are a bright blue, golden feathers line their sides and backs, and their trains are an iridescent arrangement of multiple colors featuring ocelli (eye-spots). When displayed, the male’s train spreads out in a wide fan, showing off gold, brown, green, and black feathers.

Peacocks prefer a mostly solitary and isolated lifestyle. During the breeding season, a male will defend its territory and females will seek them out as mates. A single male can have a harem of six females.

The Indian peafowl breeds from January to March in southern India, and as late as September in other parts of its range. During this time, males occupy small, adjacent territories known as leks, where they display to prospective mates. The females visit a number of these leks, before selecting the most suitable mate, a decision which is based on the length of the train feathers and the number of eyespots.

Favoured males may be surrounded by several dominant females which engage in repetitive courtship and mating, possibly as a way of guarding the male from other prospective females. Indeed, the most favoured males are so sought after that, after mating with an inferior male, females will still attempt to court and mate with the prize male. The female lays 4 to 6 eggs in a shallow scrape in the ground, or in a tree if predation is intense, which are incubated for 28 to 30 days. After hatching, the chicks are reared for around seven to nine weeks, and are initially fed food from the mother’s bill, but later taught to forage for grubs and insects.

Outside of the breeding season, females live alone or with other females in groups of 2 or 3. Males also can live in small groups with other males or alone. This species is very cautious and always alert to spot any potential danger. Its head is always moving about, searching its surroundings for any predators.

The photographs on this post were shot at Foy Sagar Lake, Ajmer, the hometown of the author on June 15, 2014.