Glamorous Peafowl

Some of the most bright and colourful critters from planet Osao, glamorous peafowl are one of our many free-range animals. You can find them in the Theropods Sector 2, alongside several other animals from Osao and a number of avians and dinosaurs.

Anatomy

Glamorous peafowl have the typical anatomy of a bird in their genus. They are on the larger size in their family, standing at three feet tall when relaxed. They have an unmistakeable plumage, their entire body hosting bright teal feathers. Their backs are lined with small green stripes, more prominent in females than in males.

Feather Train

Easily the centre of attention for these birds are their tail feathers, known as a train. There are two main trains - the front train contains stiff, wiry feathers solely used for display. The bottom train contains darker blue feathers, which are softer and used to keep the front train clean as it gets dragged along the forest floors.

Glamorous peafowl also have a number of other feathers around their trains. Both males and females have the large green feathers extending from behing both trains, used mostly to communicate with conspecifics. Males have stiff extending yellow feathers between both trains and are also used to communicate, with the position of the feathers indicating their moods.

Why does that damn bird keep turning its head and looking in the other direction every time I try to take a picture?! And why can't get it's beautiful purple feather to show up on my photos? I need to share him with everyone!

— Amélie I. S. Debruyne

Behaviour

Communication

A considerably intelligent species, glamorous peafowl have several interesting methods of communication. Their simplest form of communication comes as their vocals. Glamorous peafowl only vocalise when either stressed or angry. They are a diurnal species and abruptly wake up in mornings, always waking up in a grumpy mood. To relieve said stress, they climb into trees and scream for around ten minutes.

Glamorous Peafowl Antenna by Mochi

Glamorous Peafowl by Mochi

Scientific Name

Pavo lepidus

Home Planet

Osao

Average Height

3 feet

Average Tail Feather Length

5 feet

Average Lifespan

8 years in the wild
14 years in captivity

Sector

Theropods 2

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Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Pavo
Species: P. lepidus

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Conservation Status
Least Concern

Antenna Feathers

These peafowl use their antenna feathers to express their emotions. A happy and content peafowl will curl their antenna forwards, and when scared they will curl the opposite direction.

When these birds feel threatened their antenna feathers will straighten, pointing upwards. If you're the reason the bird feels threatened, the best thing to do is give it some distance or walk away entirely.

Train Display

To communicate with conspecifics, peafowl use their train. They are capable of altering the visible colouration of some of the feathers in their front trains, as they contain chromatophores.

It takes a couple of seconds for the peafowl to change its feather colours. We have signs posted around the Theropods Sector 2 detailing some emotions these birds feel, to teach visitors how to correctly behave around them.

Diet & Feeding Habits

Glamorous peafowl are omnivorous, with a wide diet in their native range. They have been recorded eating seeds, nuts, fruit fallen from trees or from low-growing bushes, insects and other small invertebrates, crustaceans, cephalopods, and even tiny reptiles and amphibians.

In the A To Zoo we provide a rich diet for our peafowl. You'll notice small troughs hidden in the corners of the Sector, containing vita-mils, a specialist bird feed from an Osaoan company we sponsor. We ask that visitors do not give wandering peafowls any food - you may disrupt some strict feeding guidelines for any peafowl that may be on medication, which could be fatal.

Chromatophores

Red (erythrophores) - Anger/Stress

Yellow (xanthophores) - Intrigue/Curiosity

Black (melanophores) - Unconsciousness/Death

Blue (cyanophores) - Loneliness/Sadness

White (leucophores) - Scared

Green (viridophores) - Happy/Content

Purple (purpuraphores) - Bored

Did You Know?

We are legally required to let our glamorous peafowl roam free. They are confined to just one Sector, but we must let them wander about. We try our best to keep them from wandering into enclosures by having netting over the dangerous animals, but you'll find the peafowl in some of our smaller animal enclosures.

Habitat & Distribution

Glamorous peafowl live in just one location on Osao, the Blubber Dun. This massive region is just one incredibly smooth hill, comprised of several layers of squishy soil that make it a joy to run around on. Peafowl are mostly terrestrial, choosing to wander along the ground floor of the forests on the Dun.

State Bird of Blubber Dun

Each region on Osao has a State Bird. Blubber Dun's State Bird is the glamorous peafowl of course, a resplendant bird. A male peacock features on the region's flag, along with a dark green and white background. The bird is one of the most famous on the planet, easily one of the most recognisable.

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