The Indian peacock is the national bird of India. The peacock is a symbolism of beauty and grace. If we look closely at a peacock, we would be awestruck with its beauty, especially when it’s raining and the peacock spreads its majestic wings in full swing making it a sight to watch.
Very rarely can we find peacocks spreading their wings in order to dance and make merry. They are said to do so only when they are truly happy and to represent and celebrate their happiness, they ought to spread themselves fully and exhibit gracious dance with their wings and it’s such a beautiful moment and a feast for the eyes too!!
A peacock is a beautiful creature no doubt; it has a good color combination of blue and green on its body. The spread is unequal and peacock blue and green colors are quite unique and whenever we had to refer to them for choosing colors for textiles, these words are often in usage.
They have beautiful eyes, a crown on their head, long legs that are lean and sturdy, wings that are made of many feathers.
Each feather has a blue-green combination spread amidst a hairy pattern and in the center, one can find the eye of the feather, or one can call them a beautiful moon resembling structure, adding to the overall beauty of the peacock feather.
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Spread of Peacocks in the country
Peacocks rely on simple foods for their living. They dwell on food grain particles and also bite into some small insects on the run. They are harmless creatures and can be found inhabited across different regions in our country. The wide spread presence of these peacocks makes them popular and familiar with the common man.
From small children to the elderly, there is hardly anyone who is unknown to the majestic beauty of the peacock. Peacock is thus, synonymous with beauty. It is a different thing that peahen, the female version of peacocks appears to be less beautiful when compared with their male counterparts.
They have a reduced personality and their beauty when compared with peacocks is slightly under rated. Their shunted personality together with the color combination on their body leaves them a little less attractive, and we can hardly find people discussing about peahens in contrast to peacocks.
Facts about The National Bird
Let us now come to the fact regarding why peacocks are considered the national bird of our country. It was in the year 1963 that the Indian government came up with the suggestion regarding the peacock as the national bird of India.
This declaration came up with a lot of background research about the peacock and here are some of the reasons why the choice was made. For a bird to be regarded as the national bird of the country, its presence should be first noted.
The inhabitation of the bird should be such that it is a common name in the vast regions of the country, and it is popularly found at common places like forests and wild reserves.
The peacock fully satisfies with this need and the spread and occurrence of peacocks are common sight at most of the forests in different parts of the country. This makes it a common name and well known to most of the citizens of the country. The point of familiarity of the bird is thus satisfied.
Cultural Significance
Next comes the most significant point attached to the peacock. The peacock finds mention in ancient religious texts and scriptures and its involvement with the stories of kings and queens make it a choice for talks on historical significance.
Lord Shri Krishna, the famous lord of Mathura, always had a peacock feather in his head turban. The significance of the peacock can be further researched in many prosperous icons of religious importance.
Culture and heritage find a lot of mention of the peacock feather on many occasions and thus is a celebrated icon of our grand heritage.
We can find the mention of peacocks on various government papers and bonds in the form of seals / marks and emblems. It’s a pride for the nation to include its image on many important and significant, authority holding papers and materials.
Other Facts about Indian Peacocks
Peacocks have a life span of around twenty to twenty five years. During the mating season, a peahen lays eggs in holes on the ground or in big holes in large tree trunks where it is feasible for them. It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch and when a peahen lays eggs in trunks, it lays almost five to six eggs in one go.
The body structure of peacocks doesn’t allow them for movement through flight, in simple words, they just can’t fly. Though nature has provided them with strong and sturdy legs, they don’t have the capability to fly.
Instead, nature has provided them other means of movement, they are fast walkers. They walk and run at amazing speeds and that makes them look beautiful when they run around and dance with their spread wings.
Danger from Enemies
Peacocks have trouble and face the threat from their enemies. In the forests, peacocks can actually sense trouble before being attacked by their enemies. A sense of trouble leaves the peacock in distress.
The distress caused in its mind makes it send danger and warning signals to its fellow peacocks informing them about impending danger and to seek shelter from enemies.
The government has made special habitats and areas for preservation in the form of natural sanctuaries and wildlife reserves. They are provided with special care and protection and their interests and concerns are looked after.
Our civilization and culture have given a lot of respect for animals and birds in the past and they were given special significance and were promoted with high reverence. Kings and queens were fond of these creatures and had a special liking for them.
They were looked after very well and were given a prominent place in the rulers’ kingdoms. Thus, we have a rich cultural heritage behind us which speaks volumes of these lovely birds and creatures which give us reason to protect and care for them in the future also.
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