Peacocks can fly, but not for long distances. The misconception that peacocks cannot fly is false. They can fly, but they cannot fly for long periods or at high speeds like most birds. Peacocks prefer walking to flying as their usual traveling method.
Are Peacocks Flightless Birds?
Peacocks aren’t flightless birds. Many think they’re flightless since they’re mostly seen on land. However, flightless birds have lost the ability to fly through evolution. Peacocks can still fly short distances.
How Far Do Peacocks Fly?
A peacock can cover more than a mile in the air and reaches roughly 10 miles per hour while doing so. If something startles one, it usually beats its way up into a tree or onto higher ground, putting distance between itself and the threat in a hurry.
Why Don’t Peacocks Fly?
Peacocks don’t migrate or fly far for food. In their habitat, they’re content living on the ground and eating plants. They only take flight when threatened or fleeing danger. So, they usually don’t spend much time in the air, making people think they can’t fly at all.
Because peacocks eat insects and plants, they spend most of their time on the ground rather than in trees. They occasionally fly to trees to find insects.
When Do Peacocks Fly?
Roosting in trees, reaching food, escaping predators, and getting past obstacles are all reasons a peacock will leave the ground. Flight gives the bird a quick way to handle each of those situations. A peacock can also spring as high as 8 feet into the air and glide over a short distance.
