Peacocks dance in the monsoon because the rains mark the start of their breeding season. The dance is a courtship display: the male raises his long train of eyespotted feathers into a shimmering fan, turns and quivers it to catch the light, and calls loudly to attract the females nearby. Fresh rain brings abundant insects, green cover and water, which makes it the right time to raise chicks.
India's national bird
The Indian Peafowl is India's national bird, and it has been woven into the country's art, poetry and mythology for centuries. It is the mount of Kartikeya, a peacock feather sits in Krishna's crown, and the peacock throne of the Mughals took its name from the bird. In the villages of the Deccan it is a familiar and often protected neighbour.
Strictly speaking, peacock is the male, peahen the female and peafowl the species. The male's blue neck and breast, crest of fan-shaped feathers and long green train are unmistakable. The peahen is more modestly dressed in brown and grey with a metallic green neck, colours that keep her hidden on the nest.
What the dance really is
The long train is not actually the tail. It is made of greatly elongated feathers that grow from the lower back, above the true tail, which is short and stiff and helps prop the train upright during display. Each train feather ends in an iridescent eyespot, and the colours come from the microscopic structure of the feather rather than from pigment alone, which is why they change as the bird moves.
During the display the peacock spreads the train, shivers it so that the feathers rustle audibly, and slowly turns to show it off from different angles. Sometimes he turns his back on a hen and then swivels around to face her. Researchers have long studied what peahens look for, and a well-kept train with plenty of eyespots is thought to signal a healthy male. The hens watch, move on and compare, and the final choice is theirs.
Why the monsoon, and why the calls
In much of India, peafowl breed from roughly the pre-monsoon weeks through the rains. The first heavy clouds and cooler air seem to set the males off, and folk tradition has long linked the peacock's call to approaching rain. The loud, trumpeting "may-awe" calls carry a long way across fields and scrub and are one of the defining sounds of a Deccan monsoon.
Males also shed their trains after the breeding season, usually by late summer or autumn, and grow them again before the next one. So if you visit in winter and see a peacock without its fan, nothing is wrong. Fallen feathers should be left where they lie or collected only where it is clearly permitted.
Where to see peafowl around Daulatabad
Peafowl are common across the countryside of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, especially where scrub, farmland and water meet. Around Daulatabad and the Ellora road you may see them:
- On field edges and bunds early in the morning, feeding on grain, seeds and insects.
- Roosting high in large trees at dusk, where their silhouettes are easy to pick out.
- Crossing quiet village roads, so drive slowly in the early hours.
- On the lower slopes and scrub of the hills around Daulatabad Fort and Khuldabad.
- Near lakes and ponds, where they come to drink in the heat of the day.
The best times are the first two hours after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. On cloudy monsoon mornings, particularly from June to September, you have a fair chance of catching a male in display.
Watching respectfully
Peafowl are wary birds, but they become used to quiet people. Stay on paths, keep your distance and let the bird carry on with what it is doing; a displaying male chased for a photograph will simply fold his train and walk off. Never feed wild peafowl, and keep dogs on a leash around them. The Indian Peafowl is protected under Indian wildlife law, so harming or capturing one is an offence.
For photographs, a moderate telephoto lens and a low angle work well. Soft light on overcast days is kinder to the iridescent feathers than harsh midday sun.
Peafowl at Hiranya
Peafowl are regular residents on the 15 acres around Hiranya, and their calls are part of the soundscape by Mombatta Lake, especially during the rains. Monsoon mornings here, with the seasonal waterfall flowing from July to September, are a lovely time to watch for a dance. If you have a spare hour, ask our team where the birds have been seen lately.
