The peacocks who live at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey, USA, live a birds' sweet life. Fully feathered with unclipped flight feathers, these beautiful birds all have their favorite haunts and the males each stake out territories during the spring mating season. But after summer arrives, the males lose their glorious tails and also lose their desire to stake out territories. Some of the birds then flock together in groups of about 6 to 11 or so.

One brisk fall day the wind was ruffling feathers, so the birds decided to try huddling up next to the Museum Building's lee end. First the males arrived. One of them discovered that those humans had left the big door open. Peacocks are opportunists. So one of the males decided he'd do a little exploring inside the building. The mess you see inside results not from the peacocks, but from the staff dismantling an old exhibit and installing a new one. Peacocks make their own special kind of messes, which is one reason the staff people don't allow them into the buildings. Below is a sequence of events shortly after the brave male stepped foot inside the building.

To see a larger size, please click on the thumbnail images.

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~ Life of Peacocks - 1 ~ 2 ~
~ Hard Life of Peacocks ~
~ Young Male Tries Out His Tail Display ~
~ Peacock Life Cycle ~
~ The White Peacock ~ Miscellany ~

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