Peacock-India's National Bird

 

                       Peacock is the national bird of India. It is known for its beautiful feathers. Actually the word peacock refers to the male peacock. The female is referred as peahen. The female peahen is smaller and brown in color .

PEAFOWL EGGS

 The peahens are known to choose their  mates  according to their color, size and quality of their trains. The peahens  lay 2-3  eggs that can be hatched in twenty eight days. The collective name for peacock  and peahen is pea fowl which belong s to pheasant family. The Indian peacock , Pavo  cristatus is a colorful swan sized bird with a fan shaped crest of feathers.  Peacocks can weigh  up to  four to six kg and the body length of the peacock can go up to 1.5 meters. Generally peacocks can live up to 15 to 20 years . the well cared for captive birds can live up to 40 years and above.

WHITE PEACOCK

                    Blue peacock is  regarded  as one of the attractive bird with its beauty throughout the world . One the unique  feature of blue peacock us their beautiful train  comprising of  tail feathers which is 1.4 to 1.6 meters long  that comprises more than 60 percent of its body length and has markings on it that shine gold, blue, red and green. It look like they have eyes inside this markings. The peacock attracts the peahen  by erecting the train into fabulous fan. In wild peafowl are usually roost in trees at nights  and gather in groups .there are two types of peafowls. The blue peafowls can be found in India and Srilanka. The white peafowls are native to Java and Burma. White peacocks are same as Indian blue peacocks in behavior, size  and the only difference is they are white in color. The white peacock was believed to bring luck and long and happy marriage. The white peacock is the bird of  ethernal  beauty and elegance.

PEAFOWL BREEDS

              The peacocks are mentioned in Greek, Indian, Roman mythologies. In Greek mythology it is known as the Hera which the queen of god. It is also mentioned in ancient Greek play “the birds “ by Aristophanes. The  Hindus considered peacock as the sacred bird because lord muruga son of lord siva  rides on its back. The Phonecians bought the peacock to the Egypt and Syria. Peafowl originally came from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Himalayas. peacocks symbolizes pride, grace and beauty.  Peacock was considered a great delicacy in early days.

            Peacocks eat  termites, ants, locusts, mice, plants, flower petels, seed heads, scorpions, reptiles,ticks, amphibians, anthropods  etc. Peacocks can fly but only for a short distance. Peacocks live anywhere as they are provided with proper shelter. It was said  that  The peacock dances in the  monsoon. The peacock population is dwindling fast due to habitat loss and poaching. In Rajastan thousands of peacocks have been hunted for their flesh and feathers. A survey by People for Animals (PFA) has showed that  as many as 10 peacocks were being killed per day in rajasthan.13 villages in 14 districts are said to be most dangerous places for peacocks in the state. On an average peacock feathers  is sold at US $6 to 8 in international market. Use of poisonous pesticides  in farms also kills the peacock.

      

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Rafflesia – The World’s Largest Flower

 

               Rafflesia  arnoldii the world’s largest flower is from a   rare parasitic, rootless and leafless plant. Rafflesia was first discovered by the  Europeans Sir  Stamford Raffles and Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1816, near the town of  Bencooden in Sumatra. Therefore the this was named as Rafflesia  Arnoldii. The first description of Rafflesia  Arnoldi was given by Robert brown. This largest  tupe of  flower is upto  to  1metre  in diameter and weights  upto  9 kg .It takes around nine to twelve months for the buds to develop into flowers. Rafflesia flower is red in color with five leathery and speckled petals. The centre of Rafflesia flower has a well like structure and inside that well is a central raised disc with many vertical spines. The  Rafflesia  flower lasts around  five to seven  days  and it turns black and rots. It is a rare species that found only in certain areas of south east asia where there is much perciptation, particularly prevalent  in Sumatra. Raflesia grows to be about a yard wide and it smells like rotting meat. The horrid odor helps this rare plat to survive. The foul smell of rotting meat attracts the beetles and flies to pollinate. The flies and beetles should vsit both the  male and female  plants  for successful  pollination. It is a penetrating smell more repulsive then any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition. It is a parasitic on members of genus  Tetrastigma. Throughout  its life it parasitizes on the host usually tropical lianas. It is hardly difficult to locate this flower as the buds take many months to develop  and the flower lasts for only few days. This flowers are unisexual.

                    Rafflesia  flower is an iconic symbol of the southeastern  Asian  rainforest. It has many uses too. The flower buds are applies in traditional medicine to promote delivery and recovery during and after child birth. Rafflesia  buds are used by women  to stop internal bleeding  and shrink the womb after child birth in peninsular  Malaysia. It can be used as a food as in Thailand young buds of the flower are eaten as a delicacy. Men uses it as an energy drink or aphrodisiac. Rafflesia  flowers are also used in perfumes, decoration and  boques. The buds  of  Rafflesia are used to make different concoctions for different purposes.

          One has failed to analyze  extensively the chemical properties of rafflesia yet. Preliminary phytochemical  screening however showed no evidence of the flowers medicinal properties.The buds and flowers are have a high content of tannin  and phenols which can be toxic when taken in large quantities. The major threat to Rafflesia is loss of habitat as human population clears rainforest. All the fifteen species of Rafflesia are endangered flowers in South East Asia.

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