Peacocks, nature’s most glamorous feather dinosaur descendent look like they should do nothing but stroll gently through gated gardens, astonishing everyone with their beauty. That is what a lot of pet peacocks professionally do. However, they are just birds. And birds fly. Or most of them do. You can probably name all the ones that don’t: penguins…uh…kiwis? Is that a bird or a fruit?
Most people would probably name peacocks third on the list, but they’d be wrong. According to Gulf News, peacocks are most closely related to chickens and turkeys, though they live considerably longer on average, as much as 25 years. Like their cousins, they can make short flights, though their size makes long distance travel difficult. Twitter user @_kvngjamal tried to corner one of these enormous fashion-plates on a roof, and the peacock was like, “I’m outta here.” He caught the whole thing on camera:
this is genuinely the first time i’m seeing a peacock fly pic.twitter.com/qGJGtTq19e
— Jamal ? (@_kvngjamal) August 19, 2018
Look at that majestic beast! You can’t hold down a peacock, let them soar!
The tweet from @_kvngjamal blew up, probably because no one can believe a peacock has this secret ability. The secret ability of a bird with wings.
peacocks fly ?¿ i- https://t.co/SF0Wk2rEB0
— ًja (@jaii_twt) August 21, 2018
Though some seem to think that the bird is not so much flying as it is falling gracefully off a roof:
That’s not flying, that’s falling…with style. https://t.co/5cQnZHxKIj
— RobertMacmillan (@robfmac) August 21, 2018
Many people expressed a general terror of peacocks, especially a fear that one will land on their head and peck their brains out:
And people wonder why I have a phobia of them!! Fam it looks like a DRAGON FAPPING THROUGH THE AIR https://t.co/PXFmQJgQBZ
— Carms? (@Mikewazouchski) August 21, 2018
Peacocks are magnificently fearsome. https://t.co/wH95D2ZT5G
— مِنَّة (@MennaOBadawy) August 21, 2018
I’m caught somewhere in the middle. I think I knew peacocks could fly, but actually seeing it happen is kinda scary. They’re so big and ominous and much, much more beautiful than I am. They also make an unholy racket:
At the very least, this is making me seriously reconsider my monthly bulk order of peacock eggs from Costco.