At the Zoo: Peafowl!
by Susan Lumpkin
The
metallic blue-green flash of a peacock in flight just hints
at glory of the shimmering fan of feathers displayed by the
courting male. So fabulous is this display that for thousands
of years people have kept peacocks as living ornaments to
decorate lawns, gardens, and parks. Now, visitors to the National
Zoo can feast their eyes on this resplendent natural jewel.
A pair of blue, or Indian, peafowl (Pavo cristatus) arrived here recently. Both are young adults; the male is about six years old, the female about three. They are exhibited outside the Bird House, between the flamingos and the crested screamers. Later this summer, they will move to a new exhibit on the Valley Trail. Zoo staff hope that eventually the male will roam freely in the Zoo part of the time. Females will stay put, however, because keepers believe they will attract the male and keep him from straying too far.
Elongated upper tail, covert feathers form the five-foot-tall train for which the peacock is famous. These feathers are colored metallic green, and are decorated with irridescent ocelli, or "eyespots," ringed with blue and bronze. A male may sport from 100 to 175 of these ocelli; the fanned train display is designed to show off each and every one. And with good reason. Females select mates based on the number of ocelli. Males with the greatest number win the most females.
Peacocks form leks: aggregations of very small territories, each owned by one male. The males display for any females that visit the lek, making it fairly easy for a female to assess several males before choosing one to copulate with. The number of ocelli and the length of the train feathers increase between the ages of four and 12, so scientists speculate that these traits broadcast a male’s age and perhaps also his vigor and status.
The drably colored, smaller peahen lays four to eight eggs in a depression scratched on the ground and hidden among vegetation. Males don’t share in parental care. Females alone incubate the eggs for about 30 days. Young can run and feed themselves almost immediately after hatching.
Blue peafowl are common in open forests near streams in India where they are the national bird and in Sri Lanka. They also occur in cultivated areas and, being sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, around temples. Their religious significance, which has largely protected them from exploitation, and their ability to thrive in human-dominated landscapes, mean that they are secure in the wild. The green peafowl (P. muticus) is not so fortunate. This species once ranged widely in south and southeast Asia, from Myanmar (Burma) to Java, Indonesia. It is now believed extinct, however, in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia, and is declining and vulnerable to extinction elsewhere due to overhunting for food, collecting for the bird trade, and habitat degradation.
Another relative, the Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis), is a rainforest resident, and the only one of about 50 species of pheasant native to Africa. Unlike its famous cousins, this species wasn’t scientifically described until 1936. It is uncommon and considered vulnerable, as it too is heavily hunted for food.
At up to 13 pounds, peafowl are among the heaviest of flying birds, although they prefer walking and running. They fly only in strong, short bursts to escape predators or to reach the tree tops in which they roost at night. Omnivores, they forage on the ground for diverse items: berries and other fruits, grain and green crops, insects, and small reptiles, mammals, and snakes. In Indian folklore, peafowl are believed to be important snake killers, able to hypnotize them and spoil the snakes’ eggs. One acceptable reason to kill and eat a peafowl is to cure a snake bite.
Once
out of their native range, peacocks came to symbolize wealth
and power. Phoenicians first brought peafowl from India to
what is now Syria and Egypt about 3,000 years ago. About 600
years later, Alexander the Great introduced them to Greece,
where he forbade people to harm them. In Roman times, however,
peafowl were served at the lavish banquets of rich people;
the peafowls’ tongues were particular delicacies. English
barons in the Middle Ages offered roasted peafowl to their
guests, who often dined while listening to peacocks calling
on the lawn.
Peafowl are the largest members of the family Phasianidae, a group that includes about 155 species of pheasants, peacock-pheasants, junglefowl, and partridges. In many of these species, males boast extravagant colors, elaborate feathers, showy displays, or all three. For instance, male great argus pheasants (Argusianus argus), also exhibited here at the Zoo, have elongated wing feathers dotted with golden ocelli. When the male spreads its wings in a courtship display, the feathers radiate around his head, almost hiding his body.
Other phasianids you can see at the Zoo are Himalayan impeyan pheasant, true pheasant, and crested wood partridge, all beautiful birds worth a second look after you admire the new peafowl.
--Susan Lumpkin
ZooGoer 29(3) 2000. Copyright 2000 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.
