India Blue Peafowl ( Pavo cristatus )
India Blue Peafowl - India Blue Peafowl information - India Blue Peafowl facts
The India Peaflow originally comes from southern India and from Sri Lanka, however these days it is spread all around the world. People keep this bird for over 3000 years because of its beauty. Its natural habitat are jungle, forests up to the 2000 meters above the sea level, fruit gardens and so on.
Pavo cristatus is a spectacular bird. The body shape is similar to swans. The head is black and white with blue feathers, the neck is white. The throat, belly and back are greenish blue, the rest of the body has got whitish-brown plumage. The legs are whitish pink. However the most vivid part of its body is a magnificent `tail` with its colourful feathers containing blue, green, white, brown, yellow etc. colours with a black eye at the end. The peaflows loose these feathers at the end of summer and new ones grow during summer. Their weight is approximately 3-4 kg, whereas the males are larger in comparison to the females. The wing span might reach 150 cm. The females have in general less colorful plumage. The life expectancy is about 10-15 years.
The male peaflow finds its partner by spreading its feathers and the rest is up to the female peaflow. The female has from 3-10 eggs with a hatching time of approximately 30 days. It is the female who takes care of the young at the beginning of their life.
Their diet consists of lizards, snakes, insects, seeds, fruit, vegetables, flowers, leaves and so on. It is an omnivorous bird. The India Peaflow is a national bird of India and it is worshipped there as well. With its strong bill it is able to kill a snake, even a cobra. However we must say, that neither many snakes nor other animals are found in its closeness. It has got a loud scream, that can scary many enemies. Although in India it has been worshipped for many years, for instance in Rome it was often found on the tables as a delicious meal, especially its tongue or brain.
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