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Differences in the Green Peafowl Vs. The India Blue Peafowl

The average person probably does not even know about green peafowl but they are familiar with the India Blue peafowl. When people first get into raising peafowl, they might know of just a few varieties like the India Blue, white, etc. It is important for people just getting started with peafowl to know the differences of green and blue peafowl.

Green peafowl consist of three subspecies:

Javanese Green (Pavo Muticus Muticus)- Many people just call them Javas. Please do not call all green peafowl subspecies Javas because then people do not know which of the three subspecies you are talking about.

Indo-Chinese Green (Pavo Muticus Imperator)

Burmese Green (Pavo Muticus Spicifer)

The subspecies have the area they are located in the name. For example Javanese Green peafowl are from Java. Also within the subspecies are variations and they are normally labeled by the area they are from like "Black River Imperators". That is at least what I have gathered. Some will go into full detail of all of these variations within subspecies and also subspecies that are now extinct. It can be quite confusing. India Blue peafowl on the other hand are not broken up into subspecies.

Green peafowl are endangered and India Blue peafowl are not. Due to the green peafowl's endangered status, it is important to raise pure green peafowl. A real green peafowl will have all the characteristics as shown in the illustration I made at the top of the page. Hybrids between the India Blue peafowl and any green subspecies are called Spaldings. Spaldings can produce offspring. Spalding peafowl will normally have a yellow tinted face, a crest that is tighter than an India Blue's crest, longer legs than an India Blue (sometimes), and on the wing they will often have a few scale looking feathers even if their neck is not scaled.

In general green peafowl, both the peacocks and the peahens, will be far more colorful than India Blues. Green peahens will look very similar to green peacocks, but do not think that an India Blue peahen is a green peahen because she has a green neck. If she is a green peahen the rest of her body would not be brown.

It is important that you know the differences between green peafowl and India Blues so that when you want something pure you will be able to find it based on your own knowledge and not just going by what the seller says.


For some more information on green peafowl check out the bottom of the Links page for green peafowl breeder websites that contain lots more valuable information.

I do not own green peafowl, but I hope to own Imperators some day (or all 3 subspecies) so that I may conserve them. I have read a lot about green peafowl and will continue to read all I can about them.

 

 

 

100% of the illustration on the top of the page was made by me.bottom logo