Peacocks like to sleep on a roosting bar, perch, or somewhere up high. This is because in the wild, peafowl will sleep up high to stay safe from predators. They’ll do the save in captivity, so you should provide a roosting bar.
Table of Contents
Where Do Peacocks Go At Night?
There are a number of possible places peacocks will go at night, and almost all of them involve getting off the ground.
In the wild, peacocks - much like other birds - know to sleep somewhere up high to reduce the risk of being found by predators.
Peafowl are native to India and are commonly found in dense wooded and jungle habitats. Tigers, raccoons, mongooses, and other large animals pose a serious threat to peacocks in the wild.
As night draws in, peacocks will take to the trees and find a nice spot to roost on a branch up high. This makes it almost impossible for most land predators to get them.
I know what you’re thinking; can peacocks fly?
Actually, they’re not as bad at flying as most people assume. Peafowl typically takes some large leaps before finally getting airborne, and their wide wingspan enables them to travel a decent distance or reach a high tree.
They’re too big and heavy and aren’t the best designed with their large tail feathers to fly long distances though.
Still, it’s quite the sight if you do get to see a peacock flying.
Related - How far will peafowl fly and roam from home?
Do Peacocks Sleep in Trees?
In the wild, peacocks will usually sleep in trees, yes.
This is why it’s recommended you provide them a roosting bar when keeping them in captivity. A roosting bar is essentially a fake branch.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a vast amount of land free from predators, you’ll no doubt spot your peacocks sleeping in trees if available.
In case you’re wondering, peafowl tend to sleep from dusk till dawn each day.
Where Do Peacocks Sleep in Winter?
Being native to India, it will come as no surprise that peafowl prefers warmer climates. How they handle the cold also depends on the breed, as some tolerate it better than others.
Generally speaking, however, as temperatures drop towards freezing point, peafowl are going to need a little help to find some good shelter and warmth.
You’ll see them running for cover if it’s raining. Peacocks do not like the rain, and with all that plumage that will get soaked through, who can blame them!
The same goes for windy conditions. They would rather find shelter than sleep up in a tree if it’s wet and windy.
If you’re keeping peafowl in captivity and want to provide them the best possible sleeping conditions, then you should provide a heated roosting bar in a sheltered corner with no through breeze.
Do Peacocks Stay In One Place?
Peafowl are wild birds that will cover a lot of distance if given the chance to roam freely. They do know where home is and will return, however.
They’re territorial birds, so as long as you’ve acclimatized them to their living quarters, they should come back to roost, sleep and eat.
It’s not uncommon for peafowl to get lost or end up somewhere they shouldn’t. They do love exploring and don’t seem to have a good sense of how far away from home they are.
But at the same time, if you’ve been to parks and other places where peafowl live and are allowed to roam freely, you’ll notice they always stay within the grounds (or thereabouts).
Where Do Baby Peacocks Sleep?
When baby peafowl (peachicks) are first hatched and being cared for by their mothers (called a peahen) they will sleep underneath her huge plumage.
If you ever get to experience seeing a peahen care for her peachicks, it’s quite the experience.
Peahens keep their offspring nice and warm under their own feathers for the first few weeks until they’ve grown feathers and can fend for themselves.
Most of the time you wouldn’t even notice any chicks are present until the mother stands up. They have such a wide base of feathers they are easily able to cover their peachicks.
Peahens take care of their chicks for around 2 months before leaving them to fend for themselves. At this point, they will start finding somewhere safe to sleep for themselves.
Related - Here are some of the collective names for groups of peafowl.
In Summary
Now you know, peachicks sleep under the safety and warmth of their mothers for the first couple of months after they hatch.
Adult peafowl, this means peacocks and peahens, sleep up high in branches in the wild or on a roosting bar in their pens.
It’s a completely natural behavior to find somewhere high to sleep. This is how they keep themselves safe from predators in the wild, and they will do the same in captivity.
Resources
Image credits - Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash
