Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Wednesday Vignette: A colorful character

On Sunday morning, as I was cutting flowers, I was listening to the birds.  The hummingbirds were buzzing my Grevilleas while the finches were splashing in the fountain when they thought I was far enough away.  The hens down the street were squawking, their voices periodically punctuated by louder blasts from the resident rooster.  Interspersed between the rooster's calls, I also heard the tell-tale cry of what I quickly realized must be a peacock.  Peafowl have populated this peninsula for about 100 years.  Reportedly, the first of these exotic birds arrived as a gift to a local landowner in the 1920s.  (One convoluted origin story can be found here.)  They apparently liked the area.  A 2021 census conducted by my city, one of the four communities making up the peninsula, found 181 birds and I expect there are many more in the other three cities on the peninsula.

The peacock sounded as though he was some distance away so I was surprised when, an hour later, I looked out the kitchen window to see him picking blueberries from the pots on our back patio.

Caught in the act next to the blueberries

He didn't run away when I opened the back door and approached him with my camera - he strutted off as if signaling "there's nothing to see here"

They're not particularly afraid of people.  While there's an ordinance forbidding residents from feeding them, harming them is also prohibited; however, according to a social media site that didn't stop someone from shooting one of the birds last week.  But I expect he didn't know that.

Even if he wasn't afraid of me, I don't think he wanted to hang out with me either.  He eyed the dirt path adjacent to the Xylosma hedge seeking an escape route, looking right

and then left, evaluating his options.  He was utterly silent the entire time he was in my garden.  Their cries are considered one of the worst things about sharing space with them.  An article in The Guardian quoted a woman who said "(t)hey sound like babies being tortured," adding that their cries seemed to have been amplified as if by a microphone.

 This photo provides a good view of his fancy tail feathers.  Note that they're scruffy near the end.  The male birds molt in late summer at the end of the mating season but it's too early for that.  Although this bird was very large, in retrospect I concluded he was probably a juvenile male whose train is still developing.
 

Rather than take the dirt path left or right as I'd expected, he took flight, skimming over both the hedge shown in the photo above and the bay laurel hedge several feet beyond it that separates our back slope from the neighbor's property.  He landed in the neighbor's back garden.  These big bottom-heavy birds can fly but they don't gain great height and they don't go far.

Using a telephoto lens, I was able to get a few photos of him from the concrete block stairway that leads down my back slope even though the hedge partially obstructed my view.  This is the best of those photos.

He didn't remain in my neighbor's garden longer than 10 minutes before he took off a second time, this time flying further, landing on the other side of the canyon but still within the range of my telephoto lens.

This property in a neighborhood unconnected to ours has been undergoing renovation for years now.  Sold by the original owner last year after a long period of renovation, work is once again in process.  I'd noticed that the new owner seems to be addressing the landscape, as evidenced by what appears to be a newly planted tree next to the peacock.

I halfway expected to see the peacock again later that day or within the next couple of days but he hasn't returned.  The fact that I no longer put bird seed out except during the winter months probably makes my garden a less attractive stop than it was when I had bird seed out year-round.  My very first peacock sighting occurred in 2014 and it was brief.  The longest visit I've had from one of these birds occurred in May 2020.  That was followed by another visit by two peahens in June 2020, which was of greater concern because it suggested that they might be preparing to settle down here.  While I enjoy the birds' brief visits, I'd prefer they take up residence elsewhere - I've my fair share of critter issues as it is.  If you're not already tired of the competing views of peafowl in my part of the country, here's an article about a series of "peacock killings" and the efforts to protect the animals.


All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party



18 comments:

  1. Yes, the tail is definitely scruffy. I'd be a little upset if he was eating my blueberries, but they are definitely beautiful creatures. Glad he didn't decide to open up shop in your yard.

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    1. I've always counted on the premise that they don't like this area but then I once believed that was true of rabbits too ;)

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  2. They are such luscious colors, cobalt and emerald. His tail 'eyes' mimic your succulents in the second photo!

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    1. Ha! There is a lot of emerald green and cobalt blue in my garden, Eliza. If only Mr. Peacock would promise to behave (and not bring in any lady friends), he'd be a very nice addition to my garden.

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  3. Oh how fun! What a great distraction - I do hope he returns at some point, at shorter intervals than before. They are noisy though. I remember going to a concert at the zoo once. I think the music stimulated them - they were happily singing along!

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    1. It was a nice distraction, Anna - and at least he was quiet when he visited here.

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  4. Gorgeous visitor - even if he did help himself to your blueberries. I had no idea they made such a terrible ruckus!

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    1. They're also known for eating plants and for attacking cars when they see their reflections in the shiny surfaces but I've never witnessed either when they've visited here.

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  5. 181 birds! Oh my. I remember our first sighting of them just strolling the street near the Huntington.

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    1. And I don't think that 181 includes any of the birds in the other 3 peninsula cities ;) There are LOTS of peacocks in the Pasadena area - the largest flock of them I've seen in one place were at the LA County Arboretum. According to most stories, the peninsula's birds came from an estate in Arcadia, originally imported in the late 1800s.

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  6. Beautiful but they can do a lot of damage. Our local botanic garden has them roaming about for the visitors enjoyment but the horticulturalists curse them constantly. Nice to see but don't linger.

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    1. You have them up your way too, Elaine?! I wouldn't think they've like your winter temperatures. I understand that they can be quite territorial, especially when they have chicks to tend.

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    2. They are overwintered indoors. On a visit with my young (at the time) son a male kept harassing in an attempt to get at our French fries. He targeted my son seeing him as less of a threat but was equally belligerent towards my efforts to shoo him away.

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    3. Having them inside all winter must be a challenge! No wonder your botanic garden horticulturists curse them. None of my peafowl visitors has ever turned on me but as all except one peahen duo were on their own in unfamiliar territory, I imagine they weren't looking for trouble. A friend who lives in a part of the peninsula with a steady population of them told me she had problem when she came home to find a peahen with her chicks nested at her front door. I vaguely recall that she had to use a hose to encourage them to move along so she could get into her house.

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  7. My MIL had one live in her garden in the eastern SGV for nearly a year. He never did attract a lady friend.

    Your thyme looks so happy. Wonder if the gravel native to your location does that.

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    1. Poor peacock. I hope my visitor is luckier in love - and that they nest elsewhere ;)

      The thyme does better in some areas than others. It's best in partial shade with irrigation. In some spots it needs to be replaced every 2-3 years and the critters aren't always helpful when I'm trying to get it established.

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  8. Oh you were so fortunate to get a tail end view Kris 😂 No sightings of such an exotic bird in my garden and I very much doubt if I would ever see one there.

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    1. Maybe at a zoo, Anna?! I don't think peacocks much like cold weather, although Elaine (luv2garden above) lives in a colder climate and reported that her local botanic garden keeps them inside during the winter months. I can't even imagine how those birds must behave when confined like that. They behave badly even when allowed to go their own way!

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