The Indian peafowl or blue peafowl included in family phasianidae and order Galliformes. It belongs to Indian subcontinent. Male peafowl are called peacock while female peafowls are known as peahens. Although colloquially both are often referred to as peacock. Scientifically it is known as Pavo cristatus. Its habitat includes mostly semi arid conditions. It is declared as National bird of India by the Indian Government in 1963. It is included in schedule I of wildlife (protection) Act, 1972 and listed in the threatened category of IUCN Red list. It is beautifully depicted as paintings in temple, art, fables and many mythological books. In Hindu mythology peacock’s feathers are used in many rituals.  Peacock has vibrant iridescent blue and green beautiful plumage. They spread their plumage to entice the peahens for mating.

Study area

Present investigation was carried out at Chhoti jamat (location one) and Guman singh ki dhani (location two) in Neemkathan district of Rajasthan. It is situated at coordinates 27.735018⁰ N and 75.779730⁰ E (Wikipedia). The chosen area is moderately populated and peafowl are easily adapted to live with humans.

The peafowl were directly observed by standing at a particular point and by roaming around at both the locations in their natural habitat for two hours each day in the morning and in evening during the month of august in 2023. Conversation was also made with local people to have more information about the bird. As the bird was sighted it was tried to quickly follow it. All the observations were noted in a field note book and later on compiled and concluded at the end of study. Peafowl were not harmed and disturbed during the study.

Indian peafowl are ground foragers. In the present study it was noted that they spend a lot of time in foraging. They prefer to forage early in morning and in the late afternoon while they avoid hot sun during middle of the day. They fly up to the trees to roost during the middle of the day to stay away from the blazing sun. It was often observed that peahens forage in groups (Photo 1 a & b) while peacock forages alone or with peahens (Photo 2 a & b). It shows peacock’s polygamous nature too (Photo 5 b). They keep themselves extremely vigilant while feeding on the ground (Photo 3 a & b). As they feel any kind of bustle they rapidly fly to the trees or roof of houses or any other top structures. In the present study photo (3 a) showing that dog is approaching to peacock, it quickly flew up to the wall. Hence by their vigilant nature they avoid predation and maximize their fitness while foraging. (Photo 3 b). Beauchamp 2009 and Yorzinski (2015) also found that quick vigilant behaviour enhanced the protection of Gallus gallus.

The diet of peafowl constituted both animal matter and vegetable matter. They feed on termite in decaying logs. Among animals they feed on insects, white grub, snails, slugs, aphids, mealy bugs, small reptiles etc. Animal matter is rich source of protein for them. Charlton et al, 2015 and Nowak et al, 2016 found that insects are good source of protein and plants provide rich calcium which is required for egg production. They also forage on dung heap as they find many insects and caterpillars in dung heap, which they love to feed upon. (Photo 4 a & b). Among plants they feed on young shoots of small vegetation, herbs, flower buds, petals, leaves and grass. Yasmin and Yahya also observed that peafowl fed on seeds, leaves and herbs. They also like to eat grains of wheat, Bajra, Rice, Corn, Sorghum which were provided to them throughout the year by local people residing at the chosen locations. Some people also offer them lentil, maize and sesame. Sathyanarayana et al, 2005 also recorded that peafowl fed on grains.

When asked with the local people whether peafowl damage their plants of kitchen garden most of the respondents reported that they feed upon the young shoots as well as fruits of different vegetable plants like brinjal, tomato, ladyfinger, chillies, carrot, raddish, green peas etc. Similar kind of observations were also made by Kumar, A (2018). (Photo 5 a & b).

1. Charlton, A., Dickinson, M., Wakefield, M., Fitches, E., Kenis, M., Han, R. and Zhu, F. (2015). Exploring the chemical safety of fly larvae as a source of protein for animal feed. J. Insects Food Feed, vol.1, pp 7-16.

2. Harikrishnan, S., Vasudevan, K.and Sivakumar, K. (2010). Behavior of Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) Linn. 1758 during the mating period in a natural population. Ornithol J, vol 3, pp 13-19.

3. Kumar, A, (2018). Ecology and Feeding habits of Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in Kapoori, Saharanpur, U.P., India. International Journal of Engineering Science Invention (IJESI), vol 7, Issue 4, pp 41-43.

4. Nowak, V., Persijn., Rittenschober, D. and Charrondiere, U.R. (2016). Review of food composition data for edible insects. Food Chem. 193, pp 39-46.

5. Rajesh kumar, N. and Balasubramanian, P. (2012). Habitat use and food habits of Indian peafowl Pavo cristatus in Anaikatty Hills, western Ghats Indian birds, 7, pp 125-127.

6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/neem_Ka_Thana.

7. Sathyanarayana, M.C. (2005). Impact on the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) on agricultural Ecosystems, Envis Bulletin, wildlife and protected areas, pp 175-176.

8. Kazara, H.K., (2019). Role of vigilance and alarm calling in the Red Junglefowl, Gallus gallus. Thesis, Oxford ox2 6HS pp7.

9. Beauchamp, G., (2009). How does food density influence vigilance in birds and mammals? Animal behaviour, 78, pp 223-231.

10. Yasmin, S.and Yahya HAS., (1996). Feeding habits and crop damage by Indian Peafowl. World Pheasant Association. 2, pp 8-9.