Dancing Peacock a Spectacular Vision Treat

Just imagine the smile that comes on your face and the joy you feel in your mind when you see a peacock standing beside you start dancing in its full swing by spreading its gorgeous tail feathers in the twilight. I am sure that a sight of male peacock in its full plumage will be one of the most beautiful and spectacular vision in the world.

It's the feathers of a peacock that give it that magnificent outlook. Its feather is made up of many colors, including shining bright blue, dark blue and green. While white feathered peacocks are also present, it's the colored ones that get mass applause as those birds feathers start shining in the light due to a phenomenon called interference. The same phenomenon is responsible for giving glistening colors to feathers of humming birds, butterflies and some other pheasant varieties.

Peafowl are native to India, Burma, Java, Ceylon, Malaya and Congo. The fame of peacock spread to other countries from its native regions like Southern Asia and Malaysia mainly because of its stunning beauty. Today this peafowl can be also seen in China, Europe and America.

When we call the bird peacock, we are referring only to a male peafowl. The female peafowl is known by the name peahen, and it will be mostly white or brown in color and don't have attractive feathers similar to its male counterpart. Peafowl belong to the same family of birds like pheasants and chickens, which is phasianidae. Three known peafowl species are blue peafowl, green peafowl and congo peafowl.

 

These birds are highly sociable and they require companionship. They usually occupy rainforests and areas in jungles where there are streams or ponds. In forest we can see peafowl in small groups and this includes one male and several females. These birds nest on ground but roost on trees. Peafowl are omnivorous and they feed on shelled and cracked corn, oats, sunflower seed, grass, dandelions, insects, worms, reptiles and many other foods.

Peafowl normally reach breeding age at two years and their breeding season will begin in early summer or late spring. Peacocks tail plays a very crucial role in its breeding cycle. When mating season starts peacock spreads and vibrates his tail and makes a loud mating call. By the end of breeding season peacocks molt their feathers and new ones start to grow. Meanwhile, peahens begin laying eggs in April and will lay nearly 10 eggs during one season. Their eggs will be similar to turkey eggs and that brown colored eggs will hatch after 28 days. Though peacock is a wild bird, people used to domesticate it in many countries, but I don't know whether laws related to raising animals will allow this or not.

However, peacock feathers are considered as a symbol of luck and well being in many countries. People use these feathers for decoration purposes, mask makings, floral arrangements and ornament making, other than for medicinal uses.

People developed a form of dance in the name of peacock, named peacock dance, in many countries. Its really amazing to watch dance programs in home televisions, powered with service from providers like Dish TV, where dancers in peacock costume show movements and gestures in a way similar to those birds do. In China, peacock dance is the most popular form of folk art of the Dai ethnic group. They perform this dance during Dai New year and Buddhist festivals as peacock is considered as a symbol of happiness and luck in the Chinese culture. The dance form will be based on fairy tales, folk stories and the stories from the scriptures of Buddha and the swift movements of the dance give eternal joy to the people.

In countries like the U.S we can see probably thousands of peafowl. The bird is well known for its beauty from ancient times itself. If we check the history of some countries, then we can this bird as a pet of our great rulers and emperors of that time. Even now the beauty of this bird gives us a mesmerized feeling.