peafowl

so after my awesome encounter this morning with a bazillion peacocks this morning, i had to learn more.  i was taking pictures this morning of a lovely family and upon arriving a tad early i went wandering and was surrounded by them.  i went to wikipedia when i got home (my quick easy source) and read.

i took this picture of a male peacock courting a peahen.  i figured that's what he was doing at the time, but wasn't sure.  i was a little startled when the male, with his feathers fanned out like so, started rattling them all and shaking them slightly as he walked towards the female. 

a few tidbits about peacocks, some factual, some just me:

• they are the national bird of india
• when they make a calling sound, it sounds exactly like "kevin" from up.
• the female peahen does not have the beautifully colored feathers, rather more colors like brown and gray.
• in the christian world the peacock is associated with eternal life.

anyway, they are beautiful birds and you can see the millions of free-roaming birds at a park in rancho carrillo.