Habitat: Open forests, riparian undergrowth, stream-side forests, orchards, cultivated areas. Pakistan to India, South of the Himalayas to Sri Lanka.

Diet: They eat grains, insects, small reptiles, small mammals, berries, drupes, wild figs, and some cultivated crops.

Reproduction: Indian Peafowl are polygamous. Males tend to be clumped together during the breeding season. They establish their breeding territories in close proximity to one another in a breeding arrangement known as a lek. Visiting females wander through several territories, sometimes making repeated visits, before selecting a male. After mating the male has no more involvement with the female or her young. The peahen lays 3-6 eggs in a nest concealed in scrub vegetation. Incubation lasts 28-30 days.

The precocial chicks are able to follow their mother nearly as soon as they hatch. The peahen will lead them to appropriate feeding areas. The chicks will peck at food items in imitation of their mother and are soon feeding themselves with little parental guidance.

Physical Description: Peacocks are large, colorful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent tails. These tail feathers, or coverts, spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the bird’s total body length and boast colorful "eye" markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues. Peahens have a small amount of green color on their head with their body being a dull brown color.

Behavior: The large train of the peacock’s tail is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird's back and touches the ground on either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, color, and quality of these outrageous feather trains. Indian Peafowl do most of their foraging in the early morning and shortly before sunset. They retreat to the shade and security of the forest for the hottest portion of the day.

Fun Facts:

• Its highly ornamental appearance motivated early seafarers to transplant the peafowl to their homelands in other parts of the western world.
• Phoenician traders around 1000 B.C. introduced the birds to present-day Syria and the Egyptian Pharaohs. Alexander the Great imported more of the birds into his Mediterranean domains. Domesticated peafowl remained a popular status symbol through Roman times and the Middle Ages, ensuring their establishment and survival throughout Europe.
• This long and close association with humans has proven the peafowl’s adaptability to human-altered landscapes.