You may have been lucky enough to have encountered a peacock or two in your time. If you are like me then these beautiful, iridescent birds stop will stop you in your tracks. Yet few people have seen one take to the air – and many assume that the three species are flightless. Although the sheer mass of feathers precludes any avian marathon, they can and do take flight, normally to get to their chosen spot for the evening. It may be a roof or a tree, but somewhere safe from most predators.
Peacocks with larger tails are more likely to reproduce, but have a more difficult time flying. Nevertheless when they do they look, for the short time they are in their, like a wonderful creature. Perhaps one rising upwards in the golden glow of early evening inspired the phoenix myth. Who can say? Certainly – one word that that can be said is wow (insert exclamation of your choice here).
First Image Credit Mark Dumont
