Once upon a time, there was a beautiful bird called The Peacock, he could not fly like other birds, but he was beautiful, and for him, that was all he needed.
He was no king, but he was created with a beautiful feather crown, his brown eyes were surrounded by greenish-blue flesh with black and white marks, his neck was long, sleek and elegant, and it’s tail made a beautiful robe that the humans tried to imitate when they made their clothes.
Every female was in love with The Peacock because of his beauty, and so he walked around with his chest puffed up.
Now the Jackal was jealous of The Peacock and wanted to be like it, but it was a prideful animal, so instead of admitting to his desire, he bullied The Peacock.
The Peacock naturally tried to avoid the Jackal, but sometimes he was not so lucky, however when those times came, the other animals protected it from the Jackal.
One day, the Jackal cornered The Peacock while it was bathing in a pond and tried to eat it, There was nobody around to save The Peacock, so he ran, but his feathers were heavy with water and slowed him down, and the Jackal pounced on him. The Peacock closed his eyes, waiting for the Jackal’s bite, but it never came, so he opened his eyes.
The Jackal was stuck in awe of The Peacock’s beauty.
“Are you okay?” The Peacock asked, hoping that he was not.
The Jackal snapped back to his present and clumped his jaw close to The Peacock’s neck but could not bring himself to clench his teeth. So he pulled away.
“Why are you so beautiful?” The Jackal asked the shocked peacock?
The Peacock did not answer because he was still speechless, so the Jackal snapped its jaws, angry. “Tell me.” he demanded, “How did you become beautiful?”
The sun!” The scared peacock said. “I stared into the sun and it made my eyes glow brown, I rolled in the forest and it coloured my body. And I stood on the mountain and caught a rainbow and made it my tail.”
The Jackal took note of everything The Peacock had told him and ran off to do the same.
Now, you should know that the Jackal used to be as beautiful and bright as the fox. When he stared at the sun, it burnt his eyes so that they were pitch black in the middle and surrounded by fire like the sun.
When he rolled around the forest, it stripped him of his bright colour and painted him as sand. And when he stood on the hill to catch a rainbow, he fell and was severely injured.
Now that the Jackal was ugly and injured, he had to stay in hiding, so he no longer bothered The Peacock.
Known as “akọrọ”, in Igbo, “òkìtì” in Yoruba and “dawisu” in Hausa, Peafowl is a common name for two bird species in the genera Pavo and Afropavo within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies).
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Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are referred to as peahens, although peafowl of either sex are often referred to colloquially as “peacocks”.
Peacocks are fascinating creatures, and their beauty and grace leave people, especially children awestruck. People get excited at the sight of a peacock, and more so when they see peacocks fanning their feathers and displaying various colors and patterns.
Researchers say peacocks are brown in color, and their color often changes due to the reflection of light, which is the secret of their exquisitely colorful feathers and iridescent feathers.
The feathers of peacocks possess microscopic ‘crystal-like structures’, which tend to reflect various wavelengths of lights based on their spacing. The tiny crystal-resembling structures are the ones that create the fluorescent colors.
Peacocks are ground-dwelling birds and prefer to reside in farmlands, forests, and warm regions. They also like to live in areas that provide them easy access to plants and low trees as it makes their feeding easy. They could be found in rainforests and bushlands.
Peacocks are also omnivorous birds, and they mainly eat plants, fruits, seeds, flower petals, ants, ticks, insects, locusts, ants, bread, and other scraps in the gardens and forests. Grains are the most common food of peacocks. However, peafowls feed almost on any edible item, no matter whether it’s an animal or plant source.
Male peacock weighs around four to six kilograms, while females weigh about 2.75 to four kilograms. The length of peacocks is about six to seven feet, while the Peahens are about three to 3.5 feet long.
Peacocks are social birds, and they like to interact with humans by exhibiting magnanimity or attachment towards them. However, these birds are quite aggressive and do not approve the entry of strangers or even new peafowl in their territory.
Peacocks are also the best fighter when it comes to fighting with snakes. They can not only prey on young snakes, including the poisonous ones, but they also do not let snakes enter their territory.
So it is recommended that if you keep peacocks in your environment, especially if you are s government official to prevent snake from swallowing public funds under your care.
During reproduction, male peacocks display their flashy trains and beautiful blue-green plumage to attract the peahens. They perform a peculiar dance to fascinate the females. Once mating is done, the female bird gathers various materials to create a nest, while the male looks for other peahens to mate. Most peacocks nest on the ground while some of them roost in trees.
Peahens lay around three to six eggs usually between January and March. The females incubate the laid eggs, which hatch in about 28 days. Peahens stay close to their offspring and are excellent mothers. The mother bird feeds the peachicks from her bill, and the peachicks respond.
Despite its seeming strength, Peacocks suffer from the threat of a few predators such as dogs, tigers, cats, raccoons, and some medium-sized mammals.
Peacock is beneficial to the environment. They insects which might otherwise harm the crops, thereby helping helping farmers indirectly by controlling the population of insects.
An average lifespan of peacocks is 15 to 20 years in the wild. However, peacocks can live up to 40 years in captivity.
Peacocks is the national bird of India, and stands for royalty and power in the Indian culture.
It also stands for compassion, benevolence, knowledge, and kindness in Hinduism.
