Peacock

Most people call them peacocks, but that's only the correct name for male of this type of bird. Females are called peahens, and the whole group are peafowl. There are three types of peafowl in the world: Indian, green, and Congo. Most people are familiar with the Indian peafowl, since that is the kind found in many zoos and parks. Indian peafowl live in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, green peafowl are found in Southeast Asia, and Congo peafowl are from central Africa. 

The Indian peacock has some of the brightest feathers, but the peahen is a drab, mottled brown in comparison. The male needs his bright feathers to attract a mate, and the female needs to be able to blend in with the bushes so that predators cannot see her while she is incubating her eggs.

A group of peafowl is called a "party" or a "pride"! The Indian peafowl is the national bird of India and is protected in that country. In the Hindu religion, the peafowl is a sacred bird, because the spots on the peacock’s tail symbolize the eyes of the gods.

Eastern Coast, Australia

Meet the Clusterwink snail. It’s usually found along the Australian coast, living in small colonies. They’re famous for their protection mechanism that is pretty flashy (pun intended). When agitated by any outside stimuli like other animals or just curious divers poking them with GoPRO’s on a selfie stick, these fellas light up like Christmas trees to make themselves look bigger and scarier. While this may be effective against fish, humans won’t get fooled that easily!

Unusual Animal Friendships

There are some people out there that still believe that animals are just dumb beasts, but the unlikely animal friendships we’ve gathered here will prove that they are capable of feeling love and compassion just like we are.

Naturally, all of these pictures are heart-breakingly adorable, but there’s more to it than that. Why did these animals form their friendships? Some of them, like the lions, dogs and elephants, are known for forming strong social relationships or even networks in the wild. In the absence of their prides or packs, it makes sense that they would seek social relationships outside of their own species. Other more solitary animals may form parent-child relationship with animals that they spend time with or that helped raise them, especially if their own parents are gone.

Whatever the reason may be, unusual friendships like these show that animals may be far more emotionally complex than many of us believe. Maybe these friendships aren’t so unusual after all!