Pavonini in the context of "Galliformes"

Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus Pavo and one species of the closely related genus Afropavo within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are referred to as peahens. Despite this, peacock is usually used to refer to both sexes, in common language.

The two Asiatic species are the blue or Indian peafowl originally from the Indian subcontinent, and the green peafowl from Southeast Asia. The third peafowl species, the Congo peafowl, is native only to the Congo Basin. Male peafowl are known for their piercing calls and their extravagant plumage. The latter is especially prominent in the Asiatic species, which have an eye-spotted "tail" or "train" of covert feathers, which they display as part of a courtship ritual.

Pavo is a genus of two Asiatic species in the tribe Pavonini. The two species, along with the Congo peafowl of Africa, are commonly referred to as "peafowl".

The Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis), also known as the African peafowl or mbulu by the Bakôngo, is a species native to the Congo Basin. It is one of three species commonly termed "peafowl", and represents the sole extant member of the genus Afropavo, as well as the tribe Pavonini native to Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

The Phasianinae (Horsfield, 1821) are a subfamily under the family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. This subfamily notably includes the true pheasants, tragopans, tetraonids, Coturnicini, Pavonini, amongst other members.

Although this placement was once considered monophyletic and separate from the partridges, francolins and Old World quail (now-defunct Perdicinae) until the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that this subfamily is paraphyletic. For instance, certain genera like Lophophorus and Meleagris, as well as members of the genus Perdix, are cladistically more closely related to grouse and true pheasants, whereas other genera like Tetraogallus, Coturnix, and members in the genus Alectoris, share a much closer kinship to peafowl and junglefowl. There are two clades in this subfamily: the erectile clade and the non-erectile clade, referring to erectile tissue in the bare, non-feathered parts of the face. Both clades are believed to have diverged during the early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.

An argus, or argus pheasant, is a member of a clade in the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, containing two species of bird that are closely related to peafowl.