Courtship in front of the ladies toilet

Let me tell you a story

No, this one's not hoary

A moment of glory

But a setting so corny.

In the forests of Ranthambore,

Peacocks galore.

One morning, Mr Pavo cristatus
Was trying to impress his missus.

That was all very well, I thought

But pay more attention, he ought

To the venue for his courtship

in order to make her heart skip.
Of the toilet behind

he seemed completely blind

But the peahens did seem to mind

As they ignored him and dined

On seeds, insects and anything they could find!

Now the men in our group expressed sympathy

And they did not think the peacock blameworthy

But rather thought the peahen typically hard-to-please

For his fanciful display, she should be begging on her knees!

What a sight it was, those magnificent feathers in a train.

Wonder and awe we expressed, again and again.

A fan of blues, such iridiscent hues

Caused by nanostructures in their barbules.

The wild peafowl roost in trees

And gather in groups called parties.

But nests they make on the ground

Though, so far not one have I found.

Twenty years is their typical life span

Thats the age of a young man!

I will always remember their loud, piercing cries

And the flashes of blue as they took to the skies.

But most of all, I will remember this dance

A beautiful, incongruous, unsuccessful romance?

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These peafowl we saw on our recent trip to the Ranthambore National Park, one of India's well known tiger reserves in north India. Situated in the eastern part of Rajasthan, the closest railhead is Sawai Madhopur, 11 kms away, while the closest city would be Jaipur, about 180 kms away.

We went in late April, when the day temperatures hovered around 43 -45 degrees C, and the dry hot winds came rolling in off the Thar desert (or so I thought anyway!). The water bodies were shrinking and the local dhok trees (Anogeissus pendula) completely dry. Ideal animal sighting conditions, though not ideal human comfort weather!

The peafowl were a delightful distraction all across the park, and their alarm cries were also very useful in tiger tracking.

Watch this blog for more on tiger, leopard and the birds of Ranthambore!

Tiger spotting at Ranthambhore

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PS:

Thanks to Corey of 10,000birds.com, I came across this interesting article of how peacocks happen to now roam wild in Arcadia, LA!