Species Fact Profile: Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)

Green Peafowl

Pavo muticus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Range: Southeast Asia, Indonesia
Habitat: Tropical Forest, Savannah
Diet: Grains, Seeds, Insects, Fruit
Social Grouping: Females in Flocks of 2-6, Males Solitary
Reproduction: Breed in late spring or early summer.  4-6 eggs are incubated by female for 26-28 days.  Young fledge within two weeks, but remain with mother until next year.
Lifespan: 20 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered, CITES Appendix II

• Body length 100-300 centimeters (including the male's tail train), wingspan 1.2-1.6 meters
• Male has bright bluish-green head and neck with erect green crest atop its head and yellow patch of bare skin beneath the eyes.  Wings are dark green and blue.  The tail coverts are up to 1 meter in length, each ending with a gold and green eyespot.  Females and juveniles are a duller green and lack the trailing tail.
• Females and juveniles form small flocks, which pass through the territories of adult males; males attempt to court females by displaying their tails and dancing
• Adults molt after breeding, but do so quickly and are never flightless
• Three subspecies: the Javan (nominate), Burmese P. m. spicifer, and Indo-Chinese P. m. imperator, varying in coloration of feathers and facial skin
• Hunted for tail feathers and for meat; also illegally collected for bird trade, poisoned as crop pests, and threatened by habitat loss
• Have been traded around the world for centuries; the species was originally described as being from Japan due to its presence in Japanese artwork.  The species was an ancient sumbol of the kings of Burma, once appeared on the Burmese flag