Peafowl

The peafowl, or pavo as the Domian called them, is most known for its colourful plumage and its mating dance. Roughly matching geese in weight, they are one of the bigger birds on the continent. Although not considered livestock, they are relatively tame and largely prized as living garden decor.
Their cries are said to herald death approaching. This dates back to before the Udynea Empire and perhaps stems from the Domian folk using peafowl as guard birds due to their territorial and curious nature. A few Udyean estates still employ the animals in such a fashion in modern times, but mostly in a supplemental or superficial capacity to the real guards.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

The mating season for peafowl starts early on in the dry season and continues for a few months. During this period, the males do a lot of the displaying they are known for, lifting their trains until they stand vertically. They then proceed to shimmy them out into a massive fan. This act causes a great deal of noise akin to shaking out dry reeds, which draws the attention of predators just as much as prospective mates. Males die more frequently during their period, typically to large ambush predators. It seems counterproductive to continue their displays, but the females are drawn to those with the most elaborate plumage and dances.
The females will often copulate multiple times in a season, sometimes with more than one male if another with a better display makes himself known.
When it comes to laying their eggs, it can happen any time throughout the first half of the dry season although it is more common about halfway through. The eggs look very similar in colour and size to that of geese, and the female will lay one every other day for around a dozen days, leaving her with four to eight eggs by the end. She will then gather the eggs and sit on them for roughly a month until they hatch. If the eggs are taken away (this is more common amongst garden peafowl to curb population) or eaten by wildlife instead of her, a female may wind up laying an entire clutch two to three times a year.
Females are also most vulnerable during this time as they not only build nests on the ground, but also refuse to abandon their eggs. This holds true even in the presence of a predator such as a Tigris or feral dogs. Whilst their male partner is loyal to all his females, he cannot possibly protect them all. Because they do not have a dedicated mate to help fight or lure predators away, roughly a third of females in the wild are killed during this time.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Like a great deal of larger birds, peafowl are omnivorous. Their preference appears to be seeds, berries, insects & worms. But like chickens, they'll just as readily prey on any bite-sized rodent that comes their way as well as frogs and small lizards.
Over the centuries, they've garnered a reputation for eating snakes, but the reality is that only applies to the smaller varieties (seemingly regardless of the snake being venomous) and keep their distance from larger ones.

Behaviour

Despite radiating a sense of pride and the sauntering pace they often affect when wandering an estate garden, peafowl are highly temperamental animals and will turn aggressive quickly if they feel threatened or when their territory has been invaded. This is doubly true of the males, who fly at any threat with their bone-like spurs at the forefront.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Peafowl are social creatures, preferring to travel in groups of three or more. They often roost together in trees and even nest within chittering distance. Chicks remain with their mother until maturity and, even then, then to remain nearby for another year or two before venturing off into their own territory or their mate's.

Domestication

Peafowl are not considered any more domesticated than the average mouser. Those that have grown in the wild are wary of people, but those bred in captivity are tame in the sense that they don't see the people they'd bonded with as chicks as a threat.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The main materials obtained from peafowl are the massive train feathers. These are used in fans, garments, altars and household decor. Getting them after they've been naturally shed is the preferred method, but due to the demand and the price these feathers garner, there are many instances of the quills being plucked right off a living peafowl.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The peafowl prefer moist regions and are usually found wherever permanent bodies of water reside. However, they can adapt to live in cultivated regions and seem comfortable around human villages where they forage for scraps alongside other birds, such as chickens, ducks and geese.

by Joseph Smit

Lifespan

15 to 20 years in the wild. However, peafowl living in estate gardens can easily live twice as long.

Conservation Status

Due to their iridescent feathers and the animal's ability to thrive despite the vibrant plumage, peafowl were considered touched by divinity amongst the Domian people. Their feathers were prized amongst the nobility, especially the stunning quills that make up the male's train, although it was sacrilegious to pluck them from the body. Owning such a feather, knowingly or not, was said the bring bad luck to the household.
Nowadays, they are considered a protected species across much of southern Udynea, the capital included, but no longer hold their divine-touched status.

Average Weight

Males weigh 4–6 kg (8.8-13.2 lbs)
Females weigh 2.75–4 kg (6-8.8 lbs)

Average Length

From beak to tail, the male is around 110cm (43in) long, although appears much longer with the addition of their feathered train that can be just as long.
Females are a little smaller, averaging at 95cm (37in) in length from beak tip to tail.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The biggest noticeable trait is, of course, the large train of feathers sported by the males. These are long, tough quills with brown hair-like plumage that's topped by a large green, blue and brown eye-like spot. The rest of the male is no less impressive, with an iridescent bluish-green neck and chest, variegated wings and a fan that tops their heads like a fascinator.
Like many birds, the females are quite drab, but have a little iridescent blue-green on their necks and head.
There are a few mutations that leave the males darker in the wings and the females more of a fawn shade, as well as fully white peafowl (the latter being more commonly found amongst villages and on estate gardens).

Geographic Distribution

• Udynea Empire