Peafowl include two Asiatic species. The blue or Indian peafowl originally from India and Sri Lanka and the green peafowl of Burma, Indochina and Java. The term peacock is properly reserved for the male, the female is known as a peahen, and the immature offspring are sometimes called peachicks. The Indian peacock has iridescent blue and green plumage. The peacock “tail”, known as a “train”, consists not of tail quill feathers, but highly elongated upper tail coverts. These feathers are marked with eyespots, best seen when a peacock fans his tail. Both sexes of all species have a crest atop the head.

In Hindu culture, the peacock is the mount of the Lord Karthikeya, the god of war. A demon king, Sura-padman, was split into two by Karthikeya and the merciful Lord converted the two parts as an integral part of himself, one becoming a peacock (his mount), and another a rooster adorning his flag. The peacock displays the divine shape of Omkara (sacred, mystical syllable Aum or Om) when it spreads its magnificent plumes into a full-blown circular form. Peacock features also adorn the crest of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, one of the trimurti.