Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, are large, colorful relatives of the pheasants and turkeys (Phasianidae) seen in the U. S. Their original home is the lowland areas of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. They have been domesticated and carried all over the world. The individuals pictured here were living at the Oklahoma City Zoo, a neat place worth visiting if you are in the area.

Most refer to this species as Peacock, but the proper designation is peafowl since there are peacocks and peahens. The enormous, colorful feathers on the male originate from his tail coverts in the middle of his back and are not part of his tail feathers. His true tail has only 20 feathers while the “train” consists of over 200. Males produce their trains during the breeding season beginning in February and shed them by August.

In this image, you can see the iridescent colors of the peacock in full display. The colors you see are a refraction phenomenon caused by the  interaction of light with the fine structure of the feathers. This is a common occurrence in many colorful birds.

Peafowl are ground dwellers but will fly into nearby trees when threatened. They are omnivores and consume seeds, berries, insects, and small vertebrates. They live in small groups with one peacock and 3 to 5 hens. In some parts of their native range, peafowl can become pests to farmers by damaging crops.

In the last image, you can see the object of the peacock’s affection. The peahen is not as flamboyantly colored as the male but similar in size and shape. One negative about these colorful birds is their call. It is loud and raucous and potentially annoying to neighbors of folks who keep these birds as pets. Like the guineafowl and turkeys, they possess a voice that can become a nuisance to folks that haven’t chosen to overlook their “music”.

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I stopped to photograph these wild turkeys that were grazing along the roadside. They allowed me to photograph for a bit before deciding that I was too close. At that point, they crossed a barbed wire fence to put enough distance between us that they felt comfortable getting on with their foraging trip.

Meleagris gallapavo, the wild turkey, is the largest member of the order Galliformes which contains the “chicken-like” ground birds found throughout the world. Meleagrididae used to be the family name of these birds but they have been reclassified into Melagridinae, a subfamily of  the Phasianidae or pheasant family because of genetic studies.

You can delve more deeply into the lore of the Wild Turkey at the following links: Wikipedia,  New World Encyclopedia, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Two of the three birds have crossed the fence, each of them crossed at the same place.

From the length of the beards hanging from the center of their chests, these birds are likely males. Females can sport beards but they are generally shorter than the males. Also, females would be less brightly colored than these birds.

Notice the bird on the left is much taller than the height of the lower strand of fence wire. The birds all ducked under the fence with ease.

Last bird clears the fence without a scratch!

Off they go on their travelling snackfest!

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I was recently out on photo safari in an area east of where I now live. As I was driving through a very small town, I encountered these  birds. They looked about the size of large chickens but their shape and head decorations said that they weren’t. They acted like small turkeys because they traveled together and ate bugs and greens on the go. They didn’t sound like chickens either, maniacal scratchy-throated screams that were deafening and unpleasant.

When I retuned home, I looked these guys up (Wikipedia) and confirmed my suspicion that they were Guineafowl. Numida melargris, the Helmeted Guineafowl is an South African import. In some areas you can buy these in the grocery store as an alternative to chicken. They are so loud and annoying I can see why folks choose not to raise them.

In the image above, you can see the bony head projection and the cheek wattles that make these guys different from chickens and turkeys. Like the turkey, they have no feathers on their head and upper neck. You can also see that this fella’s beak is open as he was screeching at me while I took his picture.

In the final image, you get a side view of this ambassador from the flock who displays the spotted feathers common to this species. His head is cocked to the side like he was trying to listen to me as I talked in soothing tones; but, his beak was open so I don’t know if he heard me over his screeching.

The Helmeted Guineafowl belong to the family Numididae and are distant cousins to the chickens, turkeys, grouse, pheasants and other  “chicken-like” birds. They have been part of mankind’s diet for a very long time, but I can also see why folks who get to know them get rid of them for disturbing the peace.

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