Peacock species identification A few weeks ago I encountered a peacock while driving to a friend's house in Central KY, USA. I don't believe I've ever seen a peacock in KY, and when attempting to ID [just through Google searches], I could only find restaurants & musical artists that contain "peacock" in their name. ![enter image description here]( ![enter image description here]( ![enter image description here]( **Can someone help me ID this bird? And, are peacocks wild in KY?** Have they always been, and are just rare? Aside from species ID, any insights about this bird and its prevalence within KY would be most appreciated.

That is the male of the Indian peafowl species ( _Pavo cristatus_ ), also called the blue peafowl or common peafowl. The male is called a peacock and the female a peahen, collectively peafowl, although often "peacocks" is used instead of peafowl. The hen does not have the impressive tail of the peacock (although she does have a similar crest on the head).

They are not native to Kentucky, or anywhere else in the Americas, but have been widely introduced (because of their appearance). There are only 3 species of peafowl, the green peafowl being similar and native to southeast Asia, and the Congo peafowl being much more subdued and native to Africa.