The discovery

The Ultramarine peacock was discovered in the Netherlands in 2014 by me, Els van de Steeg, and a good friend, photographer, and peafowl enthusiast. At the time, there were two males with this spontaneously arisen color: Bertram and his brother 'Broer Bertram' (Brother Bertram). One of them moved to my farm in Loenen, where we also kept EU Violet and white peacocks, among others. After consulting with a geneticist and two brothers who bred peacock mutations, 'Broer Bertram' was paired with two beautiful, pure Indian Blue peahens and one Indian Blue Blackshoulder peahen. I sent his feathers to several breeders in America, asking if they had ever seen anything like it. However, no one in America had ever observed this color. In Europe too, from France to Italy, it was completely unknown. 

Unique characteristics

Our beautiful peacock was a powerful and strong bird. We decided to name the color 'Ultramarine' because this name best matched the turquoise sheen on his saddle and train. Moreover, it did justice to his magnificence. His neck looked almost like that of a regular Indian Blue, very blue indeed. Towards the breast and flanks, the color transitioned into a violet-purple. The pattern on his wings contained less brown and consisted mainly of a black-and-beige pattern, which also differed from a regular Indian Blue. The train gleamed with such intense blue, green, and yellow that photos taken with the iPhones of that era became oversaturated by the color. Sometimes, a dark purple and red reflection could be seen in the eye of the feather; the brownish-gold sheen was notably absent. The crest feathers also had a somewhat stronger blue sheen, and the eyes showed less dark brown, displaying more shades of gray instead than most Indian Blue peacocks. You could see how his colors differed best when he was photographed in full sunlight.

Breeding & selection

compare the underground to the brightness of the birds color

Offspring soon followed, including Blackshoulders. Because it was not immediately visible which chicks carried the Ultramarine color, we always kept all chicks until they were two years old before making any selections. As chicks, they are indistinguishable from regular Indian Blue chicks. However, in the F3 and F4 generations, it appears that the females are lighter in their pattern, while the young males are actually darker. Ultramarine peahens are difficult to distinguish from Indian Blue peahens. Their wings have a somewhat flatter brownish-gray color with less pattern. Furthermore, the neck shows a clearer blue patch instead of green

one year old male: eye color and neck

As the generations we bred expanded, the blue color became more intense through selective breeding. Additionally, the violet-purple color on the flanks and breast has extended further up into the neck. The birds are large in size. The males retain their train longer than my other colored peacocks, meaning they shed it later in the season. Moreover, the train is very long, and the colors do not fade, which is the case with the EU Violet, for example. At three years of age, the Ultramarine peacocks have developed their full color. However, my experience is that if the specific color is not visible by age two, it will not develop at all.

one year old male and female

example of the female neck colouring. It shows how difficult it is to identify.
My birds are only selected after one or two years of age.
My birds wear closed footrings and are always chipped, only then I am sure on the pedigree. We only breed true Ultramarine and do not mix in other color mutations or patterns.