A peacock spreads its tail feathers to attract a peahen.
A peacock is a type of a large pheasant, and is well known for its colorful, iridescent and distinctive tail feathers. The tail makes up over 60 percent of the bird's body length and is known for its beautiful eye-type markings in vibrant blue, red and green colors. Though the male and female are typically called peacocks collectively, it is the male which is a peacock, while the female is known as a peahen. Together the male and female are called peafowl. The peacock's beautiful and magnificent tail plays an important part in the courtship and mating ritual. The peahen often mates with a male who has the largest and most colorful tail.
General Appearance
The peahen is more subdued in coloring compared to a peacock, and does not have the magnificent display of tail feathers. However, both genders have crests on their heads, with the male having a brighter colored crest. Under the brightly colored tail feathers, the peacock has brown feathers, which form its real tail feathers. The colorful train, which is around 5 feet in length, is supported by the underlying brown feathers.
The young of the peacock is referred to as a peachick and it is quite similar in coloration to a turkey poult.
Peacock's Sexual Maturity
A peacock is sexually mature at 3 years of age, typically when the colorful train is fully grown. Generally, a peafowl is ready to mate by 2 years of age. However, some peahens reach sexual maturity as yearlings, but this not very common.
Peacock's Mating Season
The peacock's mating season begins during spring or early part of summer, based on the geographic location. During the mating ritual, the peacock spreads out its tail feathers and vibrates them to attract the peahen. The mating of a peacock is extremely dramatic and beautiful. A single peacock can mate with as many as five peahens. The peahen is normally a quiet bird, but during the mating season she becomes quite loud. In fact, in the forests, you can hear the loud calls of the peacocks and peahens when the courtship and mating ritual is going on. The peacock's mating season comes to an end in the United States by July, or latest by August, after which the peacock sheds its elaborate tail feathers.
Peacocks and Peachicks
The peahen begins to lay eggs in the month of April, and will continue to lay them every other day until the egg count reaches 7 to 10. These eggs are light brown in color and are similar in size to a turkey's eggs. The eggs are laid in nests, which are nothing more than depressions scratched into the ground and then lined with grass. The eggs take around 28 days to hatch.
The peachicks are born with feathers and have the ability to fly within one to two weeks after birth. The peahen teaches the chicks how to eat, roost on trees, and produce different sounds to communicate. In order to survive, peachicks require warm temperatures; and if the weather turns cold, many of them die.
Related posts
Peacocks display their plumage during mating season.The male peafowl, known as a peacock, is best known for its long extravagant tail, which it displays for courtship purposes. There are two main...
The bright plumage and long tail make it obvious this peacock is a male.Technically, the term "peacock" only refers to the male of the species. The general term is peafowl and the female...
How to Breed PeacocksPeople have successfully raised peacocks for centuries for their aviaries or home gardens and for feather production. There are several varieties of peacocks available for the...
The peacock is a member of the pheasant family.Peacocks are well known for their colorful plumage but the word peacock actually refers to the males of the species. Females have feathers that are m...
Beautiful pied peafowl can be bred in your backyard with some preparation.Pied peafowl get their name from the patchy colors that occur throughout its body, even in its tail feathers. Males are re...
