Peacock (Pavo cristatus), Rajbagh Lake, Ranthambore National Park, India
A peacock still strides confidently along the shore of the lake. The correct description should of course be "male peafowl", the female being a peahen, but let us not get too obsessed with technicalities !
It is only in display that the male erects his extensive tail coverts with with their iridescent ocelli -- and they are coverts, they are not the tail itself. It was Darwin himself who wondered why this huge encumbrance (in this individual not yet fully developed) was not selected against in the process of natural selection. He concluded that it was selected FOR by females who mated with those males with the most impressive train. This theory is not universally accepted however.
The species is a member of the pheasant family endemic to the Indian subcontinent including Sri Lanka. It is also the national bird of India.
250127 389-2
Pfau
Обыкновенный павлин
Peacock (Pavo cristatus), Rajbagh Lake, Ranthambore National Park, India
A peacock still strides confidently along the shore of the lake. The correct description should of course be "male peafowl", the female being a peahen, but let us not get too obsessed with technicalities !
It is only in display that the male erects his extensive tail coverts with with their iridescent ocelli -- and they are coverts, they are not the tail itself. It was Darwin himself who wondered why this huge encumbrance (in this individual not yet fully developed) was not selected against in the process of natural selection. He concluded that it was selected FOR by females who mated with those males with the most impressive train. This theory is not universally accepted however.
The species is a member of the pheasant family endemic to the Indian subcontinent including Sri Lanka. It is also the national bird of India.
250127 389-2
Pfau
Обыкновенный павлин