Difference Between Peacock Worm And Indian Peafowl

Peacock Worm

When you look at a peacock worm, your attention is immediately drawn to its spectacular crown. This frilly, colorful crown is actually two half-circles of tentacles. The tentacles are the worm’s only moving parts. It eats with them. It breathes with them. It even uses them to watch for enemies.

A peacock worm’s tentacles are constantly brushing the water. It is searching for plankton and dead bits of plants and animals. The tentacles comb this food out of the water. Then they sort the combed material according to size and taste. The food that is too big or distasteful to eat gets thrown back. It swallows the tasty, bite-sized bits. The worm’s feathery tentacles are also gills. The tentacles absorb oxygen from the water, just as our lungs take in oxygen from the air.

Scattered through the worm’s crown of tentacles are 40 to 50 eyes. The worm cannot see details the way a person can. But the worm’s primitive eyes can detect shadows and sense motion. This enables the peacock worm to sense when a hungry fish or other predator comes near. The worm can’t crawl or swim. But it can escape danger by snapping its tender tentacles back inside its tough, leathery tube. The worm keeps most of its tubular body buried safely in the sand.

Indian Peafowl

In the past, peafowl lived on castle grounds. Now they can be seen in many parks and gardens. Peafowl originally came from India. They still live there in the wild. The peafowl has been domesticated for more than 2,000 years.

Only the peacock, or the male, has the immense fan tail. It is almost 5 feet wide. He spreads his tail out to impress the peahen, or the female. When he open it, thousands of colorful “eyes” appear. At this time the peacock is “in its pride.” When the peacock shows his beautiful feathers, he also makes them vibrate with soft gentle sounds. From the front, the peacock’s bright blue body looks like a jewel in a box made of colorful feathers.

The peafowl is a giant pheasant. The Indian peafowl lives in the tropical forest. It has long, strong legs. It eats plants, grasses, or grains. It also eats insects, mollusks, and small animals. It is a sociable animal. Every evening, the peafowl perches on a branch. Its loud, metallic voice is heard well into the night.

The peahen has more subdued colors. She is almost invisible when she covers her eggs. Her colors look like patches of light on the surrounding bushes. She lays between 8 and 20 eggs. She sits alone on her nest.