All eyes on … peacocks - people have watched beautiful peacocks for thousands of years and peacocks' feathers have eye-like designs that seem to look back - Cover Story

Ranger Rick, April, 1997 by Claire Miller

Peacocks are big, bold, and beautiful, and people have been wild about them for thousands of years--well, most people.

Look at all these dazzling "eyes." You probably know they're part of a male peacock's feathers. Long ago, people hardly ever got to see this amazing sight. Why not? Because peacocks, like the handsome blue one at left, lived only in the deep forests of India.

Today, some wild peacocks can still be found in India, but many more tame ones live there. They run around the villages among the people. The villagers like having the beautiful peacocks nearby, because the birds eat small poisonous snakes and other pests. No wonder the people of India chose the amazing peacock as their national bird!

Now these turkey-sized birds are raised by people all around the world--in gardens, parks, zoos, and on farms. Over the years, some of the birds have escaped or have been set free. They also live in wild flocks in California and lots of other places.

Many people love peacocks--and have for a long time. But not everyone thinks peacocks are great. Some call these big birds a big nuisance. (More on that later.)

Talking about peacocks can get complicated. Scientists call the male birds peacocks and the females peahens. The young are peachicks, and together they're a flock of peafowl. Still, most people call all of them peacocks, just as most kinds of birds are called by one name. So that's what we'll call them here.

Some people say that peacocks are just fancy chickens. It's true--chickens and peacocks are in the same bird family, which makes them close cousins. And peacocks do many of the same things chickens do. But you'd never get them mixed up!

Besides the blue peacocks shown here, there are green peacocks with gold- en-green breasts and necks. But both kinds have been bred to have many differ- ent colors of feathers, including all white.

When it's time to find a mate, each male peacock has his own special dancing place. He goes to the same spot every year and starts calling loudly.

If another male wants to steal his place, a nasty fight breaks out. The males circle each other. Then they suddenly spring up and slash out with wings, claws, and the sharp spurs on their legs. The fight may last all day--until one male drives the other away.

Here's what happens when a male peacock tries to attract a mate: He calls until some females come, and he spreads his feathery fan with his back to them. He shakes the feathers till the eye-spots are in just the right place.

Then he turns quickly to face the plain-colored females (left). Screaming loudly, he flutters the fan until the feathers make a rattling noise. The eye-spots dance, and the fan sways forward and back.

Funny thing is, the females often look totally bored with it all. Any old insect seems more interesting to them than the dancing male. Still, some males end up attracting several mates, and some don't get any.

Why are the females so fussy? Males with the biggest, flashiest feathers prob- ably are the healthiest peacocks. And that means that they are the most likely to have the strongest, healthiest babies.

Peacock moms usually hide their nests under bushes or in other secret places. They lay as many as a dozen eggs in a shallow hole in the ground.

After a month, the strong little chicks hatch. Within a few minutes they are running after their mother (above right) and catching their own insects. The peacock chicks have such strong wings that they can even fly to a low tree branch if they have to.

Young males practice lifting their tail feathers (left) long before they have a big feather fan to hold up. When the males get to be six years old, their long fan feathers will finally be fully grown.

In the wilds of India, peacocks have to watch out for tigers, leopards, and other large predators. When the birds see one, they call out a loud warning. In the United States the main predators of peacocks are coyotes, raccoons, and foxes.

Peacocks are curious and will taste anything that looks like food. They eat all kinds of plants and little animals, including insects, snails, worms, mice, and lizards. When they live near people, peacocks can become big pests--especially if they eat flowers and farm crops. The peacock acting like a guard dog (above) is part of a noisy, messy flock. The birds invaded the neighborhood of Rolling Hills, California.

Peacocks don't fly a lot--but they'll take off if they're being chased. At dusk, they like to fly to high-up branches and roost there for the night. But just because they've "gone to bed," don't expect them to sleep soundly. They're always on the alert, ready to scream for almost any reason at all!

Here's a fact that might surprise you: The feathers in a male peacock's fan are actually brown. When light hits the feathers from different angles, breathtaking colors shimmer and glow.

And here's another surprising fact: Those fantastic feathers grow out of his back. His tail feathers are behind the fan, and they stand up stiff and straight to help hold it up.