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The Peacock Courtship Dance- a video of a peacock displaying and dancing

3,814 views · Published 23 May 2010 · 1:18 · Indexed 2 October 2026

Channel: Rakesh Sharma Bikaner · 2010 · Pets & Animals

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Indian Peafowl  displaying his train during the peafowl breeding season. Indeed, its sole purpose is to attract a mate. Seeing a peahen approaching, the peacock lifts his train—a cluster of long tail coverts that spread out to form a fan several feet high and extending down to the ground on both sides. The train feathers are iridescent blue and green, with an eye-like spot of brilliant blue, green, and orange, at the end. Each feather is a work of art in itself—together they make a spectacular backdrop for the sapphire blue peacock and his carefully orchestrated courtship dance:

   1. During the breeding season, peacocks choose special places to perform their courtship dance and they tend to return to the same location year after year. Other males may be doing the same thing close by and peahens will window-shop—the peacock with the best display wins.
   2. When a peahen comes close enough, the peacock turns his back and brings his train erect, displaying the underlying tail feathers and his dark wings, which he flutters rapidly, From this angle, the brilliant colours of the display feathers cant be seen—the bird is predominantly grey and brown. The peacock steps from side to side and sometimes moves forward or backward a few steps.
   3. When the peahen comes closer still, the peacock backs up towards her, and when she avoids him, he turns, revealing all his colour and holding his wings still. He then drops the great fan down on top of the female. It quivers, making a rustling sound.
   4. The peahen may mate with the peacock, or she may simply walk away or stand still, whereupon the male starts over, turning his back again and resuming the rapid fluttering of his wings. The peacock can hold his fan of display feathers up for a very long time.
   5. For reasons that are not well understood, peahens tend to mate with peacocks with the most eye-spots.
Peafowl Harems and Groups
Because peahens prefer the most ornamented male, all the peahens in a group will often mate with the same peacock, forming a harem during the breeding and nesting season. (At other times of year, peafowl gather together in mixed groups that may contain family members.) Peahens build nests on the ground, lay three to five eggs and raise their peachicks without any help from the peacock.
 It is possible that peahens favor the most beautiful males because they are also the most experienced males with the best survival skills  a trait that might be passed on to the next generation.

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