Indian Peafowl & White Peacock

MBL's post about the peacock taking a slow stroll through the hotel premise reminded me of the pictures I received of a white or albino peacock. These white peacocks are rare as compared to the common colourful ones.

Let's learn a little bit about these colourful birds, shall we? The common peafowl or blue peafowl that we are familiar with is of the Indian Peafowl variety and which has been introduced into many other regions. Peafowl feed on seeds, insects, fruits, small mammals and reptiles. The peacock is the national bird of India.


Females are about 86 cm (34 in) long and weigh about 3.4 kg (7.4 lbs), while males average at about 2.12 m (7.3 ft) in full breeding plumage and weigh about 5 kg (11 lbs).

In breeding season, the peacock stands out with its iridescent blue-green plumage with an eye at the end of each feather. The female plumage, by contrast, is a mixture of dull green, grey and iridescent blue, with the greenish-grey predominating. In the non-breeding season they can be distinguished from males by the green colour of the neck as opposed to the blue on the males. Below is a picture of a peacock in full regalia.


The male's extravagant courtship display of feathers, called the train, plays a part in the breeding season. A peahen chooses her sexual partner based on the peacock's plumage. It is believed that if you ever see a peacock with its train all spread out, it will bring you luck.

A peahen lays a clutch of 4-8 eggs which take 28 days to hatch. The eggs are light brown and are laid every other day usually in the afternoon. The male does not assist with the rearing, and is polygamous with up to six hens.

Nature always pulls a surprise. Here is a picture of a white peacock. Beautiful, don't you think?

A close-up

By the way, if you believe in Fengshui, you may want to keep six stalks of a peacock's feathers in your vehicle to protect you from accidents.

Text source: Wikipedia
Picture source of albino peacock: Unknown