A peacock presents his plumage to attract the attention of a peahen. (A similar system for indicating status was used in the Byzantine Empire.). . Peachicks will die of loneliness. A standard made of peacock feathers used to indicate the presence of a 19th-century rajah, whose power is worldly. Peacocks shake their whole display of eye feathers very quickly, which produces a sort of rattling sound to attract the Peahens. The Amitabha association of this jewel-tone bird with its sun-like fan of a tail evocative of the Wheel of Dharma, Buddha's teachings; its connection to the ideas of immortality and compassion, and the unification of views or opposites, as well as the correspondence with the Garden which is the Pure Land, demonstrates in Mahayana Buddhism the archetypical nature of the relationship between the peacock and Amitabha. The one-year old Peafowl are like teenagers. Peacocks display their bright feathers most prominently during spring, the breeding season. Peacocks do mate like any other bird and peahens do not impregnate by swallowing tears. Skanda (called also, Murugan,) one of the two sons of Indian god, Shiva, has a peacock for his mount. The peacock's beautiful colouring is said to be a gift from the god, Indra. Peafowl are very intelligent and adaptable  birds. All the eggs hatch within a few hours of each other. This myth makes a unity of the duality of good and evil, and also explains the bird's mysterious iridescent color. They also like broken up bread. The statue was destroyed following Alexander's death with one diamond being sold to an Indian emperorwhich saw it cut apart, but the other was stolen and believed lost to history before it was rediscovered and clues were left to its whereabouts. The Phoenicians introduced the peafowl to the pharaohs of Egypt, then it made its way to Europe among the spoils of Alexander of Macedon's returning army. This may be why it’s worth it for males to maintain their feathers, despite the costs: The showy plumage requires a lot of energy to produce, can attract predators, and makes getting around difficult. 'The brahmachari' theory brought "Tears" to my eyes. A male Indian peacock in Alajuela, Costa Rica, in 2009. This phenomenon of seeing peacocks dance in the rain is far from a modern idea. The Peahen mothers the chicks throughout their first year and only leaves them when she again mates and starts sitting on new eggs. The peahen does not have a train; her plumage is gray-brown, green, white, and black to camouflage them from predators while sitting on their nests. Charles Darwin (Darwin, 1871) introduced the concept of sexual selection to explain seemingly ornamental display traits in animals, such as the elaborate trains of peacocks.It is now well established that sexual selection can operate through female choice when females choose their mates based upon these displays (Andersson, 1994; Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 2011). Follow Carrie Arnold on Twitter and Google+. If you remove eggs while the peahen sits on them, she will continue to lay through the whole breeding season. Just like many birds, peacocks are polygamous. 19. Darwin's theory of sexual selection says that nature's extravagances -- like the peacock's tail -- are advantages in the mating game. In Asia, the feathers of the peacock are considered auspicious and protective. Lord of the elements of form, he is also a war god. They stand for the idea that no matter the misdeeds committed during one's lifetime[s], rebirth is possible in Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Great Bliss that is the Western Paradise of Opameh [Tibetan for Amitabha]. By Rob Waugh. Then they drift gracefully down from the trees and walk around their territory, checking things out and feeding. In Greece, it was sacred to Hera, queen of heaven and lawful wife of Zeus, a pair of them drew her chariot, and they were kept at her temples. Photo, Bill Wassman Our World in Colour: Nepal. The Peahen makes a big show of ignoring the Peacock, but will casually feed and stroll around near him. The Legend of the Peacock Rain Dance. Thus the bird is thought of as a protector, though its flesh is consequently considered to be poisonous. In that way, the bird would be protected from extinction, for many people thought it was rare. 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