Peafowl

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Peafowl
Indian Blue Peacock
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae Genus: Pavo Linnaeus, 1758 Afropavo Chapin, 1936
Species
Pavo cristatus Pavo muticus

The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are best known for the male's extravagant tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. Although commonly used, peacock is an incorrect term to refer to both sexes. The peahen is brown.

The two species are:

• Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus (Asiatic)
• Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus (Asiatic)

The Green Peafowl breeds from Myanmar east to Java. The IUCN lists the Green Peafowl as vulnerable to extinction due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat.

Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Plumage 3 Behaviour 4 Diet 5 Habitat 6 Peafowl and humans 6.1 Peafowl as pets 6.2 In the media 6.3 Peafowl used as Logos 6.4 Cultural references 6.5 In literature 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Taxonomy

The Indian Peafowl is monotypic, while the Green Peafowl has 3 subspecies, P. muticus spicifer, P. m imperator and the nominate P. m. muticus.^[1]

The two species are largely allopatric but will hybridise in captivity.

While the form of Green Peafowl in Yunnan is not separated taxonomically, it differs in a few aspects from other forms, particularly in its forest-dwelling habits, an "odd, monal-like bill", a curiously long hind toe and longer, more slender wings (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000) [2]. Some have suggested this is a new subspecies.

Some pheasant breeders have suggested that the Green Peafowl may have more subspecies.^[2][3]

[edit] Plumage

The male (peacock) Indian Peafowl has beautiful iridescent blue-green or green coloured plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock, also termed the "train", is not the tail quill feathers but highly elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the tail is fanned. Both species have a head crest.

The female (peahen) Indian Peafowl has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail coverts of the male but has a crest. Females can also display their plumage to ward off danger to her young or other female competition.

The Green Peafowl is very different in appearance to the Indian Peafowl. The male has a more green and even gold plumage than the Indian Peafowl and even more brilliant color. The wings are black with a sheen of blue. The crest is of a very different shape and is tufted. The head is usually greenish in color, although the speculated new race/species P. (muticus) annamensis is said to have a bluer head than many other peafowl.

Unlike the Indian Peafowl, the Green Peahen is very similar to the male, only having shorter upper tail coverts and less iridesence. It is very hard to tell a juvenile male from an adult female. The female of the speculated race/species annamensis has an incredibly golden sheen, but that is exhibited in both sexes.

Many of the brilliant colours of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers.

Different colours correspond to different length scales of the periodic structures. For brown feathers, a mixture of red and blue is required: one color is created by the periodic structure, and the other is a created by a Fabry-Perot interference peak from reflections off the outermost and innermost boundaries of the periodic structure.

Such interference-based structural color is especially important in producing the peacock's iridescent hues (which shimmer and change with viewing angle), since interference effects depend upon the angle of light, unlike chemical pigments.

[edit] Behaviour

The peafowl are forest birds that nest on the ground. The Pavo peafowl are terrestrial feeders but roost in trees.

Both species of Peafowl are believed to be polygamous. However, it has been suggested that "females" entering a male Green Peafowl's territory [3] are really his own juvenile or subadult young (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000) and that Green Peafowl are really monogamous in the wild. People who believe this notion, cite the similarities between the sexes.

[edit] Diet

Peafowl are omnivorous and eat plant parts, flower petals, seed heads, insects and other arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians.

Like in other galliformes the metatarsal spurs or "thorns" are used in fights or for defence and when they can attack their major prey, humans.

[edit] Habitat

Asiatic peafowl like the Indian Blue Peafowl and especially the Green Peafowl occupy a similar niche as the roadrunners, Secretary Bird, and Seriema. All of these birds hunt for small animals, minnows, and arthropods on the ground, in shallow streams and frequently in tall grass habitats.

Because of human encroachment into their natural territories, peafowl and humans have come into increasing contact. Because of their natural beauty some are reluctant to classify the birds as pests, but their presence can be disturbing.

[edit] Peafowl and humans

In the Middle Ages, the flesh of the peafowl was highly prestigious and believed to be imperishable. Thanks to its reputation of being immortal it was also a symbol of the Catholic church. Though its meat is tough and not well-suited for consumption, it was prized due to being a luxury and often domesticated for human consumption by the medieval nobility and was often served at banquets as a subtlety. This was usually done by skinning the bird, cooking, grinding up and seasoning the flesh, and then redressing it in its own plumage and serving it in a lifelike pose by bracing it with wooden struts. It was also common to discard the meat and stuff the colorful plumage with the meat of tastier domestic fowl such as goose or chicken to please and entertain diners.

[edit] Peafowl as pets

Peafowl can be companion animals but there may be problems with dogs, cats and other pets. They may roam, roost or mess on adjoining property. Peafowl have been called "urban guard dogs" because their distinctive cries can act as a warning of approaching people.

[edit] In the media

• The American television network NBC has used three variations of a rainbow peacock logo since 1956.

[edit] Peafowl used as Logos

• The American television network NBC has used three variations of a rainbow peacock logo since 1956.
• The national carrier of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Airlines uses a Peacock as its' company logo.

[edit] Cultural references

• According to Greek mythology, the "eyes" on the tail of a peacock were placed there by Hera to commemorate her faithful watchman, Argus who had a hundred eyes (Ovid I, 625).
• In the novels of Kalidasa [Meghdoot,Kumarsambhavam] the beauty of Peacock has been used as an ornate literary tool.
• The Jataka tales Mahamayur Jataka(491) describing the earlier birth of Bhagavan Buddha describe it in the form of a golden peacock. There is an interesting story about the Golden peacock. Another of these tales record that intrepid Indian traders going as far as Babylon used to take peacocks with them, and had to sell them to the native population on request.
• In the local folktales of India the peacock has a special place. A Punjabi folktale describes a Queen reqesting her husband not to hunt peacocks and tells that the peacock is her brother.
• In the Mayuri subtribe of Bhils in India, women take out their veils whenever they see a peacock and they are worshipped during festivals.
• Hindu mythology describes the peacock as the carrier of Kartikeya, and the goddess Saraswati in Jainism, and the goddess Mahamayuri in Jainism.
• Melek Taus is most commonly depicted as a peacock, although as the birds are not native to the original range of worship of Melek Taus it is posible Melek Taus was originaly depicted as a chicken or cockrel.

[edit] In literature

In the novel Over the Wine Dark Sea by H N Turteltaub, the main characters transport a cargo of peafowl through the Mediterranean Sea, circa 300 BC.

[edit] Gallery

Indian blue peacock	shot of a White Peacock	An Indian Blue Peacock courts a Peahen	An Indian Blue Peahen showing her plumage
Closeup of an Indian Blue Peacock's head	When it is not in display, the long train rests on the ground and hampers the movements of the peacock	The Black-Shouldered Peacock was once thought to be a distinct subspecies, but is now considered a color mutation	A White Peacock showing off its plumage
front	back	White Peafowl in the parroquial residence in San Andrés Sajcabajá, Guatemala.	Peacock in botanical garden.

[edit] See also

• Congo Peafowl
• Green Peafowl
• Indian Peafowl
• Handicap principle
• Tournament species
• Argus Panoptes
• NBC logos

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Zoonomen - Zoological Nomenclature Resource — World Birds Taxonomic List as of 2006-09-26
• Peafowl Varieties Database
• The Peacock Pages: All About Peacocks!, An article by Lisa Johnson from the Game Bird and Conservationists' Gazette — Aspects of the cultural role of peafowl and their place in aviculture.
• United Peafowl Association Knowledge Base
• "Peacocks Swarm Couple's Florida Home" — Feral peafowls became pests for one Florida couple in 2005, a CBS Evening News story
• Peafowl in Arcadia, Living With Arcadia's Wild Birds, a pamphlet by City of Arcadia, California (pdf)
• "Behavioural Ecologists Elucidated How Peahens Choose Their Mates, And Why", an article at ScienceDaily.com
• Peafowl videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Peacock — Etymology of the word