MacNaughton,

I agree. They are not a bird that can fly far because they are large and heavily built though they are nowhere near as big as some of the Australian and African birds. In India, of course, eating them would be out of the question as they are worshipped by the Hindus and someone shooting a peacock could get lynched by them. That said, the bird is becoming endangered because of pesticides leaching into it's food chain. They do eat insects and also snakes - in many ways, the fury of a peacock killing a cobra or a krait is a far more spectacular sight than that of a mongoose killing one. I have seen both.

Good hunting!