Indian Peafowl

The Indian peafowl, commonly known simply as the peacock for the male, is a large, ground-dwelling bird native to the Indian subcontinent, famous for the male's spectacular train of iridescent blue-green tail covert feathers, marked with eyespot patterns, which he fans out and shakes in an elaborate courtship display. Females, called peahens, are far less showy, with mottled brown and grey-green plumage that provides camouflage while nesting. Peafowl are omnivorous, feeding on seeds, insects, small reptiles and plant matter, and they roost in trees at night for safety from ground predators despite spending most of the day foraging on the ground. Long domesticated and kept ornamentally around the world, the Indian peafowl is also the national bird of India, where wild populations remain widespread and are protected.