A peacock is the name given to a male peafowl (the female is a peahen). The characteristics of a peacock are extravagant, making it easy to differentiate between him, his female counterpart and other types of birds. Peacocks live in India but have been exported all over the world. The way to best spot a peacock is by looking at his tail. Feathers that are many feet long drag behind the peacock as he struts. But if he wants to court a female, he will display his plumage in an impressive manner. All of the back feathers stick straight up behind him, revealing a fan-shaped array of yellow, blue and green. The brilliant colors are a result of the angle at which light shines through the feathers. A peacock will not fly with his feathers fanned out like this. He puts on this show only when he is standing on his two feet. One of the unique attributes of the peacock that can often be overlooked is the crest of feathers at the top of his head. These erect decorations appear almost like a crown and adorn both male and female peafowl. The head of the peacock is similar to that of a chicken or turkey, with a beak that's large but not sharp like a buzzard's. The blue or green colors continue through a peacock's face, with stripes of white around the eyes. Peacocks are one of the largest flying birds in the world. They move rather slowly, thus creating an appearance of strutting. This anthropomorphism has helped coin the term "proud as a peacock." Standing up straight, the peacock is more than 2 feet tall. His tail feathers when fanned out extend more than 5 feet. The bird has a relatively long neck like a turkey's, only without the wattles. Peacock feet are three-toed, long and scraggly, rather like emu feet. Ron Augustine is a rookie freelance writer and producer who has worked primarily in radio and print media for Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, Relevant Magazine, WMBI Chicago and the Burnside Writers Collective. He graduated Moody College in 2007 with a degree in Communications.
