Indian National Bird

The National Bird of India is Peacock. The scientific name is Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), which is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. It is a large and magestic bird with along and a beautiful tail. It is the symbolic of qualities like beauty, grace, pride and mysticism.

The main body of the cock is mottled brown in color. Especially, the metallic green color found on the lower neck is very attractive. Though peacocks are beautiful looking birds their calls are loud and coarse.They move in-groups and they are normally spotted in the forests, villages and nearby fields. They are shy in nature. It feeds on lizards, snakes, grains and insects. The hen lays a maximum of five eggs, which are in pale cream color.

The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green tail of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacks the tail. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a gorgeous sight.

In India people believe that whenever the cock spread its tails in an ornamental fashion, it indicates that rain is imminent. In a way it is partly true. At the sight of dark clouds the bird outspreads its tail and starts dancing in rhythmic fashion. Most of the folklore including Bharatha Natyam has got special dancing poses for the peacock dance.

Features Of Peacock

The male specie, peacock, is characterized with a 2.12 m (7.3 ft) length, in full breeding plumage, and weighs about 5 kg (11 lbs). The female bird - peahen, on the other hand, is about 86 cm (34 in) long and weighs about 3.4 kg (7.4 lbs). Adoring the glistening blue-green plumage, the Indian peacock has an extension of feathers on its back. Each feather is exemplified with an eye at its end. The Indian peahen is a mixture of dull green, grey and iridescent blue, with the greenish-grey color outweighing. The bird is mostly found in the dry semi-desert grasslands, scrub and deciduous forests and feeds on mainly seeds, but some also eat insects, fruits and reptiles.