Green peafowl

Unlike the related Indian Peafowl, the sexes of Green Peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the field. Both sexes have long upper tail coverts which cover the actual tail underneath. In the male this extends up to two meters decorated with eyespots or ocelli while in the female the coverts are green and much shorter just covering the tail. Outside the breeding season, however, the male's train is moulted and it can be difficult to distinguish the sexes unless they are observed up close. The neck and breast feathers of both sexes are iridescent green and have a scaly appearance. In the male, the scapulars, median and greater wing coverts are blue while the lesser coverts are green and form a triangle on the shoulder when the wing is closed. The secondaries are black and in some subspecies the tertiaries are brown and/or barred with a faint pattern. The female has blue lesser coverts and therefore lacks the "triangle" at the wing shoulder. Overall the female has more coppery neck scales as well as more barring on the back as well as the primaries. Both sexes have shafted crests, and are long-legged, heavy-winged and long-tailed in silhouette. The crest of the female has slightly wider plumes while those of the male are thinner and taller. The facial skin is double striped with a white to light blue and beside the ear is a yellow to orange crescent. The dark triangle below the eye towards the eyebrow is bluish-green in the male and brown in the female. Seen from a distance, they are generally dark coloured birds with pale vermillion or buff coloured primaries which are quite visible in their peculiar flight which has been described as a true flapping flight with little gliding that one associates with Galliform birds.