QuestionIndian peafowl
What Is a Female Peacock Called? Peahens and Peachicks
A female peacock is called a peahen. Strictly, “peacock” is the name of the male only; the species as a whole, male and female together, is called peafowl, and the young are called peachicks. A peahen is smaller and mostly brown, and she lacks the male’s famous train of eyespot feathers.
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Peacock, peahen, peafowl and peachick
The names can be confusing because everyday English uses “peacock” for any of these birds. Here are the correct terms:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Peafowl | The birds as a whole, both sexes; also the name of the three species |
| Peacock | An adult male |
| Peahen | An adult female |
| Peachick | A young bird of either sex |
The “pea” part comes from Old English pēa, borrowed from Latin pavo, which is still the scientific genus name of the Indian and green peafowl. The words follow the same pattern as cock and hen for chickens. The three species are the Indian peafowl of South Asia, the green peafowl of Southeast Asia and the Congo peafowl of central Africa.
What does a peahen look like?
An Indian peahen is a large, sturdy bird about 86–100 cm (34–39 in) long and 2.7–4 kg (6–9 lb) in weight, clearly smaller than a male. She has a brown head with a crest of fan-shaped feathers like the male’s, but tipped with chestnut and green. Her face and throat are whitish, her lower neck shines metallic green, and her back and wings are mottled gray-brown. Her belly is whitish and her tail is short and dark brown.
She has no train, no blue neck and no spurs as large as a male’s. Green peahens are more colorful than Indian ones, with green and bronze body feathers, while Congo peahens are rufous-brown and green.
Why do only males have a train?
The difference between the sexes is a classic example of sexual selection. Males compete for females, and peahens choose among the males displaying at a lek, a shared display ground. Over many generations this has favored ever more striking trains in males.
Peahens face a different job. A female nests on the ground and sits on her eggs for about four weeks. Plain brown plumage is good camouflage that helps her and her nest avoid predators such as jackals, mongooses and big cats. A bright blue body and a long train would make her far easier to find. Read more about the display in Why do peacocks spread their tails?
How peahens behave
Peahens are not passive. Outside the breeding season they live in small groups, often with their young of the year, feeding on seeds, shoots, insects and small animals. They keep watch for predators and give loud alarm calls. Peahens also raise and fan their short tails when threatening other females or warning their chicks of danger.
In the breeding season, which in India follows the monsoon rains, females visit several displaying males before mating. A favored male may mate with several females, but he plays no part in nesting or raising the young.
How peahens raise their young
The peahen makes a shallow scrape on the ground, usually hidden under bushes and lined with leaves and sticks. In towns she may nest on a ledge or flat roof. She usually lays 3–6 glossy buff to brownish eggs, sometimes more, and incubates them alone for about 28–30 days.
Peachicks hatch covered in tawny down, with their eyes open, and follow their mother within a day. She leads them to food, and they learn what to eat by copying her. The chicks can flutter short distances within about a week, and at night the family roosts in low branches, with the chicks often tucked under the mother’s wings. Peachicks stay close to their mother for several weeks to a few months.
Telling young males from females
Young males look like females at first, which makes sexing peachicks hard. After a few months, young males tend to have longer legs than their sisters, and they start growing blue feathers on the neck within their first year. The train starts to grow in the second year and is fully developed at about four years old.
A young male with a short or patchy train is still a peacock, and he can still fly well, as explained in Can peacocks fly?
Peahen myths and facts
Myth: Peahens are just “brown peacocks.” Peahens have their own plumage, calls and behavior, and they make the key choices in courtship.
Myth: A peahen becomes pregnant from a peacock’s tears. This is an old folk belief in parts of India. In reality peafowl mate like all other birds, and the female lays eggs fertilized by the male she chose.
Fact: Some peahens grow male-like feathers. In peafowl, as in chickens and pheasants, female hormones normally block male plumage. Very old females, or females whose ovary stops working, occasionally grow some male-like feathers, but never a full train.
Frequently asked questions
Is a peahen a peacock?
Strictly, no: peacock means the male and peahen the female. In everyday speech, though, many people call any peafowl a peacock, and dictionaries note this wider use.
What is a group of peacocks called?
A group of peafowl is often called a muster, a party or, more playfully, an ostentation or pride. These collective nouns are traditional English terms; birdwatchers usually just say a flock or a group.
Do peahens have colorful feathers?
Peahens are mostly brown and gray-brown with a white face and whitish belly, but the Indian peahen also has a patch of glossy metallic green on her lower neck and a small crest like the male's.
How many eggs does a peahen lay?
An Indian peahen usually lays about 3 to 6 eggs in a clutch, sometimes more. She incubates them alone for about 28 to 30 days.
Can a peahen grow a train?
No. Only males grow the long train of eyespot feathers. Very old females, or females with hormonal problems, sometimes develop a few male-like feathers, but they never grow a full train.
Sources and further reading
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan), "Pavo cristatus"
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Peacock"
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "peahen"
Cite this page
“What Is a Female Peacock Called? Peahens and Peachicks.” Animal Atlas, https://animals.bigworldlist.com/questions/what-is-a-female-peacock-called/.
