An Indian peafowl of unknown origin has been roaming a neighborhood in Clearwater Beach in Springs since at least December, but despite plenty of attention on neighborhood apps and Facebook, no one has claimed the bird.
Somehow the visitor, better adapted to warmer climates, being a native to the Indian subcontinent, survived an especially cold and snowy winter.
“We were peacock unaware until we found it in our own yard Easter weekend,” said Lori Wells, who lives part time on Underwood Drive. Her husband, Jeff, noted the bird’s “very regal” looks and a nickname was born. The family now calls the bird Lord Underwood.
“It was gorgeous,” she said.
Lord Underwood stayed nearly the entire weekend in their yard, spending most of his time in a tree. “He just hung out in the tree, behaving like he was our pet.” They even got to hear the turkey-size bird call a few times in response to their dog, around which it felt threatened. “It was like a weird squawk. More like braying,” said Ms. Wells.
They called the non-emergency number for the town police, prefacing their call with, “This might sound like a prank call, but is anyone missing a peacock?”
Apparently not. No one came to pick him up.
“I don’t understand. If it belongs to somebody, why isn’t anyone claiming it?” said Jackie Dellon, who spends the winter in Florida but owns a house in Clearwater. A neighbor’s daughter noticed the bird standing in Ms. Dellon’s driveway at the end of March. It then flew into her backyard.
“I have gates,” said Ms. Dellon, “But it flew in and flew out. I said, ‘Please get it out of my backyard. I don’t know what it can do.’ “ The bird departed without incident. “It was the weirdest thing to see this video of a peacock walking down Pembroke Drive towards Underwood,” she said.
“We call him Pea,” said Dianne Mehrhoff, who started seeing the bird in mid-March. “We have him on our ring camera, just walking around the front yard. Then he walked up onto the front porch, flipped over the door mat, and ate all the bugs underneath it.”
“Everybody is excited that he’s in the neighborhood,” she said, calling the bird both stunning and huge. His presence goes beyond the visual. Ms. Mehrhoff said he often calls loudly in the morning and again at dusk. She was concerned over rumors that he was being fed. “You have to let Mother Nature do its thing,” she said.
The peafowl, colloquially known as a “peacock” in America — males are properly called peacocks, while the females are peahens; the Clearwater bird is a male — is native to India and was introduced to America only in 1879 “when Elias J. ‘Lucky’ Baldwin brought three pairs to his vast ranch in the San Gabriel Valley of California,” according to the website birdsoftheworld.com. Populations now persist in Florida (of course) and California.
They’re omnivorous and considered a nuisance near farms — they’re protected in India and killing one can lead to a seven-year jail sentence — where they gobble down crops, garden beds, and plants. They also eat seeds, fruit, snakes, and insects.
Not everyone appreciates their loud calls, or their apparent habit of defecating in pools.
“This reputation has pitted peafowl lovers, who adore the birds for their aesthetic appeal and confiding demeanor, against those who are annoyed by the birds’ intrusive habits, leading to protracted acrimonious debates on peafowl management in various city councils,” reads the species account on birdsoftheworld.com.
Despite their proclivity for mischief and travel, nothing in East Hampton Town Code prevents someone from owning a peafowl as a pet, Jake Turner, the town attorney, confirmed Monday.
On the neighborhood app, there were rumors that the bird either belonged to the Marder or Goncalves families, but neither has claimed ownership.
“We’ve had them over the years,” said Mica Marder. “But they’ve been nothing but trouble. They fly onto people’s roofs and make crazy mating calls at 5 in the morning. This one is definitely not from our land. I steer away from them.”
He added that he knows of two other families in East Hampton who keep peafowl.
“We’ve had two calls about it just this week,” said Anna Rowan, an animal control officer with the town, who said Animal Control has been hearing about the peafowl since December. “Someone called today. It was in her yard, trapped and pacing around. We don’t handle that kind of thing though,” she said. “We just handle cats and dogs.”
Kathleen Mulcahy, the executive director of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center, was called about the bird on Monday.
“If the peafowl is healthy, there’s really nothing we can do,” she said in a text. “If it were captured and needed to be rehomed, we could help with that.”
According to cacklehatchery.com, a website that sells peafowl, they roost in trees at night and enjoy “parading on rooftops.” Their meat, when cooked, is comparable to chicken or turkey.
“Allowed to roam, they will eat an enormous number of ticks — they also eat snakes and mice or at least discourage them from hanging around.”
They can live to be 50 years old.
With nymph ticks getting ready to emerge in the coming weeks, perhaps Lord Underwood of Clearwater should be nurtured and allowed to freely roam his lands. After all, what’s worse? A little poop in the pool, or Lyme disease?
