Aves an eye catcher class of vertebrates have been closely related to humans for a long time, since Stone Age. Hence their pictures were found in the Southern Spain on the cave walls, drawn 25000 years ago. The peacock is recognized as a symbol in the religions of its natural Asian habitats, where it is a vehicle for gods in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. It is also the subject of fairy stories, myths and legends. In the west, one of the most famous legends about the peacock, known to both Greeks and Romans, is how it acquired the eye-spots in its train feathers. The chief god Jupiter and his wife the goddess Juno were responsible for the remarkable ocelli being placed in the peacock’s plumage.

A major order of class Aves is Galliformes that includes Pheasants and Indian peafowl having worldwide 181 species while in Asia, their number is 49. Family Phasianidae refers to three types of peafowl namely Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus), Green Peafowl (Pavomuticus) and African Congo Peafowl (Afropavocongensis). Indian Blue Indian peafowl has three varieties ie white Indian peafowl having white feathers in its train along with ocelli barely visible, pied Indian peafowl have random white feathers in the plumage and black-winged Indian peafowl with dark feathers having blue and green tips. Indian peafowl is widely distributed in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Northern areas of Bangladesh. In Pakistan, they are found in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, Thar and Sehwan areas.

Indian peafowl is a natural bird of India and thought to inhabit throughout India. Length of male bird measures 175-235 cm, while wingspan measures 125-165 cm with weigh of 3.5-6.5kg. While, length of female bird is 85-105 cm, wingspan of 75-135 cm and weight of 2.6-4.5 kg. Indian peafowl inhabit areas near streams, open forest and grasslands in the outskirt of villages. Bird is virtually omnivorous, feeding on a range of insects, reptiles, worms, seeds, and grains. Habit destruction and contamination of its feed leads to severe threat to population of this bird.

Obliteration of natural habitats enforces an urgent need of ecological studies to understand the requirements so that wild population can be conserved. Indian peafowl spend a major proportion of their time (45pc) in the scrub jungle while other habitats such as mixed dry deciduous forests, open barren land, and agricultural field are scarcely used as former habitat provides perfect camouflage, better concealment, and protection from predators, and serves as a rich food source. Usually Indian Peafowl favor thorny plants such as Acacia spp. For roosting as they afford a multidirectional view, they generally grow close to water and in bushy undergrowth, and their first branch is at maximum preferred height above ground. These factors help peafowl escape predators. Peafowl also roost on electric poles but it might be behavioral adaptation to reduce predator threat. Peafowl roost at a height ranging from seven to 22m, favoring a range between 10-13m.

Normal ‘crow’ of cock a loud and harsh metallic trumpet-like may-awe shrieked several times, varying in pitch. Also, a series of short, gasping screams ka-an….ka-an…ka-an repeated 6 to 8 times rapidly with an inane pumping action of the head and neck, well likened to something between the scream of a hysterical old woman and the bray of a donkey. ‘Alarm call when suspicious and agitated a double-syllabled brassy kok-kok or cain-kok. This commonly uttered by a hen with neck-feathers fluffed out like a bottle brush and repeated intermittently for many minutes, especially when leading a brood of chicks.

Indian peafowl breeds from April through October. Indian peafowl is polygynous and generally has two to three breeding peahens in its harem. Indian peafowl does not defend its harem due to small breeding territory. Clutch size is usually 4 to 9 eggs in natural habitat but in captivity the hen lays 8-20 eggs and the incubation period is about 28-30 days. Hunting of Indian peafowl is prohibited under the Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act- 1974. The captive breeding programme of peacock was started by the Punjab Wildlife Department a few decades ago. The main purpose of this programme was to propagate the number of threatened or endangered species in captivity and reintroduce them into their natural habitats. It also provided a research platform for researchers to boost understanding of the biology of this species. These activities may provide important information for conservation efforts.