Mating season in peacock/peafowl/peahen country

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If you've read our post about baby peacocks in our backyard, you're already familiar with one aspect of living in peafowl country (near the Arboretum in the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia). BUT! Did you know that during mating season it's REALLY LOUD around here?!

As absolutely beautiful as peacocks are to look at, they're equally loud and annoying during mating season--which stretches from roughly January through April. Their squawk is something to behold...er, well, hold your hands over your ears!

The males and females both squawk, but when there are two males, especially two males of similar maturity (and of breeding age) in the same area, they hold squawk-fests that you have to hear to believe.

My favorite peacock, whom I call Mr Peacock, allows me to take as many pictures--right up close--as I like, so one day I sat on the driveway steps and just snapped pic after pic as he shrieked. While I was snapping photos of him there was another male, a little older I think, about 15 feet away--and they were participating in one of those aforementioned squawk-fests. Wow!

Here are a few of the pictures I took that day, with Mr Peacock squawking away at the other male:









And now for a [very brief] breather...




Here are a few from a couple days later; again Mr Peacock was bellowing it out with his rival who was nearby, but this time both had their feathers fanned:








Well, there you go. A visual glimpse at mating season in peacock land. I'll spare you the actual sounds by NOT posting an audio clip!

In case you're wondering, no, I don't actually mind all the noise. I love the peacocks and take the shrieking as part of living where they roam the neighborhoods, gracing us with their extraordinary beauty. Small price to pay, you know?


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Baby peacocks in my yard

(Please see our constantly growing selection of peacock photography on merchandise at CafePress, and/or our collection of peacock pictures on Flickr.)

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UPDATE 02/29/12: Yay! I've finally gotten around to adding some new photos...as long ago promised. Scroll down--they're below the original post.

What could be better than peacocks in your backyard? BABY peacocks in your backyard!

Spring is mating season for peacocks--and an adventure in patience for the humans in the area. As beautiful as peacocks are, their very loud vocalizations are not exactly music to the ears of humans. But when you live in an area where peacocks have become residents, it's just one of those things you accept as a trade-off for having these beautiful creatures around. (UPDATE: See our post with pics of squawking peacocks during mating season!)

Well, after mating season comes babies--and, good grief!, are they ever cute. I consider myself very lucky to have mother peahens who've become so used to me they're comfortable bringing their baby chicks around. (I was less than thrilled a few years ago when peacocks destroyed the beautiful, new flower bed in my front yard. Turns out they love various parts of various plants! They ate some of the foliage, dug up my gladiola bulbs--just for the fun of it, apparently, as they left the bulbs lying around the yard--ate seeds from some of the flowers, and tore up the soil. But, again, I accepted it as part of living with peacocks.) So after mating season's cacophony of screeching, honking, squawking sounds, along came sweet little chicks.

I've taken hundreds of pictures of the babies, documenting their growth and changing appearance over time. I haven't had a chance to put up any merchandise featuring the peacock chicks yet, but I will! In the meantime enjoy a few of my favorite photos; I'll add some later on that show the chicks as they get older. If you're looking for peacock photography on assorted merchandise, please visit our web site CaliforniaDreamsPhotography.com.


A mother peahen eating with her chicks.




The next six photographs show a mother peahen brooding her six chicks. It was taken on a chilly morning and she was keeping them warm. Watch as one of the babies comes out from under mom, then all of them do as she stands up.




















This chick's crown is just starting to emerge from his head.




PS I know that female peafowl are called peahens, and that peacocks are male peafowl. I've used "peacock" in a rather loose way here!

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UPDATE 02/29/12: Added more photos.

Tender moments shared between two moms and their babies, one a younger chick and one a bit older.






Mom...the umbrella!







Those of you who--unlike me--eat animals, I'd kindly like to ask that you consider this FACT, assuming you're touched by the sweetness of these photos of mothers and babies interacting: Chickens, turkeys, ducks...and cows, pigs, and all other sentient beings, would also share moments like these with their parents/offspring, if not for the fact that they're separated at birth, confined to cruel, inhumane cages where they can't even stand up, and are then inhumanely slaughtered. Just because peacocks are "cute" doesn't mean they're any more capable of bonding with their mother/babies than other animals that are commonly thought of as food, or that they should have more right to do so.

A very young male chick already fanning his feathers.




Young chicks from one family, including one in a water fountain








Older chicks.









Younger and older immature males, fanning their feathers as they attempt to impress some young females.










An older, but still immature, male.




Older, but still immature, female (left) and male (right)








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Peacocks...in my backyard!

When thinking about the sights in Southern California, it's a pretty safe bet that certain stereotypically "California" things come to mind: Beaches, the Hollywood sign, beautiful people with perfect bodies, and so on. But what about peacocks? Yes, peacocks!

(See our constantly growing collection of peacock pictures on Flickr.)
I had forgotten what it's like to have these majestic, beautiful, colorful birds wandering through my neighborhood and yard, but now that I've been back a while I can't imagine life without them. The peacocks--or, more accurately, peafowl--in my neighborhood originated at what's now the Los Angeles County Arboretum in the 1800s. Eventually they spread out over the surrounding areas and are now as much a part of the scenery as the palm trees and San Gabriel mountains.

Every day I get to see peacocks and peahens in my neighborhood and yards. I consider myself very lucky that I can sit on my patio and snap photographs of these spectacular birds, up close and personal.

This closeup of a peacock with his feathers fanned is one of my favorites, and it's available on assorted merchandise on CaliforniaDreamsPhotography.com.




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