Peacock

A peacock is a large, colorful bird known for the huge fan of feathers the male spreads during courtship. The word "peacock" technically means only the male bird. The female is called a peahen, and together they are called peafowl. There are three kinds of peafowl in the world. The Indian peafowl lives in India and Sri Lanka. The green peafowl lives in Southeast Asia. The Congo peafowl lives in the rainforests of central Africa.

The Indian peacock is the one most people picture. The male has a shiny blue head and neck, a small crown of feathers, and a long train of green and gold feathers covered in bright spots that look like eyes. These eyespots are called ocelli. When the peacock wants to impress a female, he lifts his train up and spreads it into a giant fan. The train can stretch more than six feet wide, longer than most adult humans are tall. He also shakes the feathers so they rattle and shimmer.

Peahens look very different. They are brown and gray, with no train. This dull coloring helps them hide while sitting on their eggs. A peahen usually lays three to eight eggs at a time. She builds her nest right on the ground.

Why do males have such wild feathers? Charles Darwin was so puzzled by the peacock's tail that he once said the sight of it made him feel sick. Heavy feathers make it harder to fly and easier for predators to spot. Darwin figured out that peahens choose mates based on how showy the males look. Males with bigger, brighter trains have more babies, so each new generation grows a little showier. Scientists still debate exactly what peahens are looking at. Some studies say they care most about the number of eyespots. Others say the rattling sound matters just as much.

Peafowl can fly, even with all those feathers. They usually fly up into trees to sleep at night, safe from tigers and leopards. During the day they walk on the ground and eat seeds, insects, small snakes, and fruit.

The peacock has been a symbol for thousands of years. In Hindu stories, the god Kartikeya rides a peacock. The ancient Greeks linked the bird to the goddess Hera, who was said to have placed the eyespots on its feathers. India chose the Indian peafowl as its national bird in 1963.