We know about the peacocks at that location. Geoffrey is right to point out that the tail of a peacock is usually hidden under the long train of feathers growing
from the rump and back. So what is often called the peacock’s tail, actually isn’t. It would be difficult to distinguish these feathers from a dark chicken, maybe just a bit too big for a chicken. But Geoffrey says the other feathers are also black. There
is not much of a normal female Peacock (or should I say Peahen), apart from the tail, that is black. Which is why I wonder about a chicken. Geoffrey’s residence may be one of the few, with more peacocks than chickens nearby.
Philip
From: Canberrabirds [
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 2 December, 2025 1:15 PM
To: Canberrabirds
Subject: [Canberrabirds] Mysteries of suburbia, ONE
Q - What colour is a peacock’s tail?
A – Nearly black.
For a few days I’d been puzzling over a pile of feathers on the ground in Rocky knob Neighbourhood Park. Apart from the small downy ones they were large and, for practical purposes, black. No bright colours among any
of them. Eventually I concluded they were from a deceased adult peafowl. From photos and references it appears that both female and male peafowl have tail feathers that are dark brown, in fact so dark that they can appear black. In the case of the male,
it is these feathers that support the colourful train. In the attached photo the feathers are on a black pillow-case. The top colour in the color guide series is designated ‘Dusky Brown’. I suppose the rest of the bird was carried off by a fox, and that
it was a female, going by absence of any colourful feathers. Females sitting on eggs are sometimes taken by foxes.
