The name peafowl brings to our mind the picture of a large bird with brightly coloured feathers. The appearance of the male and female birds in this species is very different.
The male peacocks have very long tails which are usually around 1.5 m. A peacock’s tail is made of large green feathers that have blue eyes on them. This makes it unique and very attractive. Although this tail looks too heavy to lift, peacocks can easily fly with it. The pea-hen has white feathers on its face, throat, and belly. Unlike the males, peahens don’t have showy tails. Both males and females are very keen in their vision and hearing.
When it comes to nesting peafowls prefer open forest, or land under cultivation. The bird builds its nest by making a depression on ground and lines the nest using sticks and leaves. Peafowls eat berries or grains. It also feed on insects, lizards, or small snakes.
Despite their good looks, peafowls are not very welcome visitors to our cultivated lands. Their foraging in cereal crops results in considerable loss of revenue to farmers.