The Peacock,
Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), the national bird of India. It is symbolic of
qualities like beauty, grace, pride and mysticism. Peacocok is a colourful,
swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye
and a long, slender neck.
The male of the species is more
colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a
spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers it is able to
expand its tail erect like fan as ostentatious display. The female is brownish,
slightly smaller than the male, and lacks the train. These birds do not sound
as beautiful as they look they have a harsh call. The elaborate courtship dance
of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a beautiful
sight. The peacock is widely found in the Indian sub-continent from the south
and east of the Indus river, Jammu and Kashmir, east Assam, south Mizoram and
the whole of the Indian peninsula. Found wild in India (and also domesticated
in villages) they live in jungle lands near water. They were once bred for food
but now hunting of peacocks is banned in India. It is fully protected under the
Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.