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.
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
Of the toilet behindhe 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
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?
************************************************
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!
***************************************************
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!
