I’d like you to take note of the fact that this bird is ‘taking off’ with practically zero horizontal motion. Their legs are incredibly powerful, because they are game birds and game birds do not really “take off.” Game birds flush. They are capable of springing straight up into the air a very good distance to avoid predation. While peafowl may not have much in the way of predators (as adults, mainly tigers in their home ranges, and mostly snakes as babies), the predators they do have are very fast and tigers, at least, know how to jump quite high, meaning that despite their size (10-12lbs as adults, which is a LOT of bird), peafowl have retained their ability to flush nearly vertical to get into flight.
If peacocks were red I would say they’re the source of phoenix stories, because that tail in flight looks like green flame. He looks like a comet with wings.
@eisenvulcanstein someone sent me this photo a while back, and I need you to know that when peacocks first grow in their train every fall, the structure iridescence is high-red and can result in… Well.
This boy has got a lot of orange because he’s wet but often fall-fresh peafowl iridesce red. As their feather structure changes from wear and tear, they quickly become green trained again. But I can definitely see some kind of mythology springing up around these lads and their fancy butts.
