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Previous Issues > August 2007 > Wildville! > Peafowl
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 Wildville!
Peafowl
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Pavo
Don't call all of these Asian birds peacocks! Peacock is the word for a male
peafowl, but is sometimes used for both male and female peafowl. The female peafowl is called a peahen. There are two types of peafowl. The Indian Peafowl is blue and lives in India and Sri Lanka, an island south of India. The Japanese Peafowl is green and lives in eastern Asia.
The peacock belongs to the pheasant family. It is known for its elaborate tail feathers, which are actually a train of long feathers. The train of feathers can be up to 60 inches! Peacocks have a tail underneath their trains. To show off for peahens, peacocks lift their tails, which makes their trains fan out. The train's feathers are bluish-green or green and have spots similar to eyes. The peafowl hens are green and brown. They are almost as big as the males, but don't have the beautiful train of feathers.
Peafowl are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and prey on animals. Peafowl eat plants, flower petals, seeds, insects and some reptiles. The Japanese peafowl even eats poisonous snakes. They sleep in treetops, but make nests for eggs on the ground.
Peafowl are popular zoo animals because of their beauty. Some are kept for pets and bred. Breeding has created peacocks with unusual colors, such as white and purple.
Sources: Brittanica Student Encyclopedia. Photo by Joy Kirkpatrick, taken at Discovery Cove aviary.
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