One of the truly gorgeous birds is rightfully considered a representative of the pheasant genus - the peacock. Graceful feathered beauties easily acclimatize to new conditions and are quite unpretentious birds. Originate from South Asia.
Females have a rather unremarkable appearance, while males have outstanding, bright plumage. It is impossible to take your eyes off the sight of a graceful male spreading his luxurious feathers.
The peacock reaches sexual maturity around three years. Being a polygamous bird, as a rule, it lives in a group with 3-5 females.
In addition to the usual available facts about these charming birds, there are many more interesting ones, some of which are quite surprising.
Fact No. 5
Only males have beautiful plumage, which grows at approximately 4-5 years of age. Males are polygynous, meaning they seek out multiple females during mating season. They need feathers in order to attract the attention of females. The more beautiful a peacock's tail, the more females will be interested in it. It has an eye-like spot on each tail feather called an ocellus. The peacock's tail accounts for up to 60% of the length of the entire body. Their wingspan can reach 170 centimeters, making them one of the largest flying birds in the world.
The best weapon is beauty
The notorious “tail”, which has such a variegated color, is necessary to attract the attention of females . It is by spreading his amazing “fan” and displaying bright feathers that the male achieves the favor of the peahen (female peacock) in order to procreate. But in addition to charming females, it also serves to scare off enemies.
When a threat approaches, the peacock spreads its tail like a fan and creates the appearance of hundreds of “eyes” looking at the enemy. A kind of distracting maneuver that confuses the predator.
Fact No. 7
These are quite loud and vocal birds. They usually make sounds during the rainy season, so they can be used as natural indicators of this phenomenon. They also scream early in the morning or late in the evening. They make sounds both during mating and during times of danger. In total, peacocks can make up to 11 different sounds, each of which has its own specific purpose.
Peacocks can fly
Surprisingly, peacocks are not only able to gracefully walk on the ground, to the surprise of many, they can fly quite well. Their flight is not very long and high, but under certain circumstances they can take off and cover relatively decent distances, although they do this quite rarely. Feeling the approach of danger, they easily fly up a tree, where they love to spend their leisure time.
Fact No. 10
White peacocks are not albinos, as many people think, but a subspecies of blue peacocks (Indian) that have developed a genetic mutation. This mutation is called leucism and implies a partial loss of pigmentation of the outer covering. Leucism can lead to a complete absence of plumage color, but the normal eye color is retained, which is not typical for albinos, whose eyes become red or pink.
Delicacy
Peacock meat is considered a delicacy due to its delicate taste. It is probably not in vain that it occupied a well-deserved place of honor on royal tables for several centuries.
Until the 16th century, peacocks were actively used in cooking. Only years later it was replaced by chicken and turkey meat. Nowadays poultry is bred more for decorative purposes. Raising them for food is simply unprofitable, because the taste of the meat is not too different from the usual chicken, but the peacock itself and its maintenance are much more expensive.
Today, only in one of the restaurants in London you can enjoy such a delicacy - taste peacock meat.
Description and features
the peacock will come first . It is this bird that surprises us with its unique beauty and splendor, the richness of its decoration.
Even from a photo of a peacock you can judge its charm, but you will get a much greater impression from contemplating this bird with your own eyes. It is difficult to imagine that this majestic bird is the closest relative of the ordinary domestic chicken, which does not have any “zest” in its appearance.
An ordinary chicken does not have luxurious plumage and unusual color, they do not stand out at all for their charm and beauty, but the peacock is a unique bird . But with all this, the fact of kinship is pure truth.
Peacocks belong to the pheasant family, and are part of the order Galliformes. The peculiarity is that the bird is the largest among all representatives of the order.
Peacocks are represented by only two species:
1. Common, or crested, or Indian peacock. This species is not divided into subspecies; it is monotypic.
2. Javan peacock. This species includes three subspecies: the Indochinese green peacock, the Javan green peacock and the Burmese green peacock.
As you can see, peacocks cannot boast of a wide variety of species, but their majestic appearance is much more pleasing. The peacock is a fairly strong and large bird; on average, a representative of this order weighs about 5 kilograms. The body length is usually a little more than a meter in length.
In this case, the tail plume can be much longer, about 1.5 meters, and sometimes reach two meters. Their head is small and connected to the body by a long neck.
There is a small crest on the head, which is often compared to a crown that crowns the head. The peacock has small wings with which the bird can fly. The legs of these birds are high and quite strong.
None of the behavioral features of ordinary domestic chickens are alien to peacocks; they also quickly move on their paws, make their way through thickets without problems, and rake the top layer of soil.
The main and distinctive feature is the chic fan-shaped tail of the peacock . It should be noted that only males have long, uniquely beautiful rump feathers. Female representatives have a less chic tail; with them it looks much more modest, since it is devoid of a pattern, and the feathers themselves are somewhat shorter.
While in males the upper coverts have a characteristic “eye” pattern. The peacock feather can be colored in different ways, the main color range is represented mainly by green, blue and sandy-red shades.
But there are also species whose feathers are pure white. This pattern and color is very important in the life of a peacock, as it plays a significant role. First of all, it is used as protection and deterrence. When the male notices impending danger in the form of a predator, he spreads his tail. A huge number of “eyes” confuses the attacker.
The tail is used in another important matter, namely, attracting attention from a partner during the mating season in birds. This plays an important role in increasing the number of offspring and preserving the species.
The color of the bird's body itself also differs according to gender. Females naturally have gray-brown plumage, while males have a complex and brighter color, rich in colors.
It should also be noted that the peacock is an inspirational bird. Many authors, artists and musicians dedicated their literary creations to the beauty and unique appearance of this bird.
In yoga there is the so-called “peacock pose”, which not everyone can perform, but enchants with its beauty. Admirers of handicrafts also try to reveal all the splendor of this bird in their creations.
For example, an origami peacock, or crafts and decorations for personal plots - peacocks made from bottles . Embroidery masters often use a special thread to depict a majestic figure in gold.
External data
Only males are beautiful among peacocks. This is how nature works that in bird pairs, only the stronger sex gets a bright appearance. Apparently, they are unable to attract females with anything else.
Common peacocks are distinguished by their elegant, even graceful, neck, which is decorated with a beautiful crest. The body length rarely exceeds 1 meter.
The main tail grows no more than 50 cm, but the covert feathers, which contain all the beauty, can be up to 160 centimeters long.
The weight of adult peacocks ranges from 4 to 4.25 kilograms. The coloring of the male is magnificent, seeming to include every possible shade of blue and green.
But the females have a very inconspicuous appearance; their piebald-gray color does not allow them to stand out from the general background.
Only males have such long beautiful feathers
Umesh Singh/Getty Images
Like other bird species, only male peacocks have attractive colors and beautiful decorative tail feathers. And it is the males that are called peacocks, the females - peahens, although representatives of both sexes are usually called peacocks. A group of peacocks is called a flock or flock.
Sign language
Recently, biologists discovered an interesting fact: decorating a peacock has another mission. It functions as a communication channel among representatives of this species. The transmitter is the main decoration of the males, which generates infrasonic waves. People cannot hear these sounds because their ears do not perceive infrasound.
Occasionally one can observe how ripples pass along the tail feathers, which spread from the base to the end of the feathers, similar to the disturbance of the surface of water during earthquakes. People hear only a slight noise, reminiscent of the rustling of wind in grass or leaves. But the waves that peacocks transmit to each other in such an interesting way are not registered by the human organ of hearing, since its frequency does not even reach 20 Hz.
For other representatives of this species, such a signal heralds danger: females begin to show anxiety, and males scream loudly, so that these screams are heard throughout the entire area. In this case, the chicks tend to quickly hide under their mother’s wing, because this is the safest place in the world for them.
Fashion
How could they use the feathers of these interesting birds! Women sought to decorate dresses, hats, hairstyles, fans with them, and expensive accessories were made from them. In order to get such feathers, it is not necessary to kill the animal; in the fall it is enough to go out into the clearing where their families graze, since molting actively occurs in the fall.
Unfortunately, the traders tried to get everything at once, so they not only collected discarded feathers, but also sought to get a carcass that could be sold for meat. The more difficult it was to get feathers, the more expensive they were, which closed a vicious circle, as more and more people wanted to rip the last from the animal.
The fashion of wearing peacock feather jewelry arose a long time ago. Not only ladies succumbed to it, but also medieval knights, who decorated their helmets with this accessory. In the 90s of the last century, fashion took a new turn, and having such a feather in the interior became a sign of chic.
Now interesting outfits with such plumage can be seen in original shows at high fashion weeks. But you can more often see a peacock on tattoos. Tattoo artists explain that such a design on the body can bring its owner a bright life, achievement of goals and meaning.
About shrines
At different times in different countries and peoples there was a special attitude towards the peacock. Even in the times of the ancient Romans and ancient Greeks, it was considered a sacred animal that could only live with the top officials of the state. This did not stop them from eating peacock meat, which had the status of an exclusively aristocratic dish.
Almost all peoples in folklore associated the peacock with joy, happiness, eternal life and purity. Only in Russia the attitude towards this interesting bird was different: here it was considered a symbol of pompousness, excessive pride, pride and conceit.
In India, the peacock has been officially recognized as the national bird since 1963. Here, not only does the law protect the lives of representatives of this family, but religion also considers them sacred. Previously, this country had an acute problem with poachers exterminating the population, but now the situation has changed, and the life of wild peacocks is not in danger. Another country where this bird has earned a special status is Iran.
The most unexpected appearance of this bird can be seen on the coat of arms of Serpukhov, which is located in the Moscow region. The history of its appearance is very interesting. In the 18th century, exotic animals and birds were bred in the monastery of this city, most of which were represented by peacocks. A huge number of people came to the territory of the monastery wanting to look at the exotic. That is why it was placed on the city's coat of arms.
№15
Hunting and rapid habitat loss due to pollution and deforestation have led to a significant decline in their populations. Of all three species, only the Indian peacock is not endangered, as it is protected at the legislative level in some states. As for the green and Congo peacocks, they are endangered.
We also recommend reading: Interesting facts about bats
External data
Only males are beautiful among peacocks. This is how nature works that in bird pairs, only the stronger sex gets a bright appearance. Apparently, they are unable to attract females with anything else.
Common peacocks are distinguished by their elegant, even graceful, neck, which is decorated with a beautiful crest. The body length rarely exceeds 1 meter.
The main tail grows no more than 50 cm, but the covert feathers, which contain all the beauty, can be up to 160 centimeters long.
The weight of adult peacocks ranges from 4 to 4.25 kilograms. The coloring of the male is magnificent, seeming to include every possible shade of blue and green.
But the females have a very inconspicuous appearance; their piebald-gray color does not allow them to stand out from the general background.
White peacock
Nature surprises with the presence of such special beauty as the snow-white peacock. These birds are more familiar to perception precisely because of their brightness and variegated colors, but the white color gives them even more amazing attractiveness.
Many people are mistaken in classifying white birds as albinos. Blue eyes against the background of snow-white plumage only enhance their beauty. In fact, the white color of these birds is recognized as one of the first to be discovered in the natural environment.
№6
Females lay about 3-6 eggs in one clutch. The incubation period lasts about 30 days. After birth, babies stay with their mother for several months. She teaches them to eat, care for feathers, and build relationships with other peacocks. Within a year, young individuals become adults. The tails characteristic of males begin to grow only at the age of 2-3 years and finish forming by 5-6 years.
№13
As a rule, their daily schedule looks the same from day to day. Typically, in the wild, they roost in large groups in tall trees to protect themselves from predators. In the morning they come down from the trees, divide into smaller groups and go in search of food. Then they wash themselves, rest, and climb back into the trees to sleep. And so every day.
