Judge Mahesh Sharma of the Rajasthan High Court said the peacock’s purported “pious” celibacy was why it is India’s national bird.

He went on to tell reporters from a local TV station that “the peahen gets pregnant swallowing the tears of the peacock”.

The comments went viral and have been widely ridiculed on social media.

Ornithologist Bikram Grewal told The Indian Express: “This theory about peacocks drinking tears to breed is an old hoax. They breed like all other birds, by means of sexual copulation.”