Adventures of Priscilla F Peahen, Queen Of The Neighborhood

Priscilla F Peahen was roosting in a neighbor's tree. I saw her last night just before the sun disappeared. When I ran out to take her photo ... Mr I hollered a warning: "Don't have eye contact. She'll take that as an invite to move back in! We don't want her flying over the fence and taking up residence on my car!" Have I mentioned how very much he loves his car?

The eye contact comment was too funny, considering that peafowl are the only wild birds that will look you in the eye! Just don't stare at them, it makes them nervous. She was there very early this morning, then gone as soon as the sun began to warm the day.

Longtime readers will remember that Priscilla came to stay at Clay and Limestone just before Thanksgiving and then returned a few weeks later. (here for the full story)
She must really like this part of the neighborhood. What giant roosting bird wouldn't! There are plenty of trees and there is still food everywhere. She could live off of the bird food from bird feeders all winter. Earthworms are still active and the ground rarely freezes. There are tons of acorns and the streams will be running until summer.

She may very well be hiding in the wayback backyard. More then likely she's wandering the neighborhood in search of food and water! Like all peafowl, she needs a large property to explore and grub about in. She seems an adventurous girl and wouldn't be happy living in my small backyard. A farm would be perfect.

Please don't worry about Priscilla. She's a survivor. I will make sure there is water and food all winter. Do you think my neighbor will mind that I'm leaving it in her yard!

Gail

There's Something Strange In The Neighborhood!

Who ya gonna call?

I'm gonna call meems~she knows about peacocks and peahens! Hoe and Shovel Garden has seen more then its fair share of the beautiful, but pesky critters. Meems has written about how a muster of peafowl had besieged her Florida neighborhood making a big racket and damaging gardens.

We aren't having that problem here~~Just this confused peahen who has been wandering the neighborhood since September. Neighbors have posted on our listserv that they had spotted a "large bird, that sure looked like a peacock". Everyone was convince that the local coyotes would find her. But, here she is 3 months later still exploring and looking for her friends.

This is my first sighting of her. It's kind of eerie to be kneeling in the garden when you hear rustling sounds in the leaves and grass....All kinds of creature possibilities run through your mind. No where on that list is peacock or peahen! So, when I saw what looked like a very large bird, my first thought was that there were Wild Turkeys in my garden! But, there she was, a healthy peahen pecking along the ground. What a time to not have a camera with me....I rushed into the house, sure that she would be gone...She wasn't!
You can tell that she has been socialized to humans. I 'googled' and discovered that "peafowl are very intelligent and adaptable birds. They love to roam around eating bugs and grasses." That they are the only wild birds that will look you in the eye...but, being stared at makes them nervous! "In the wild they live in deciduous tropical rain forests. They sun and preen on a low perch or dig in soft dirt for a warm dirt bath. At night they roost 40-80 feet up in trees, or as high as they can get. Peacocks preen and dry their feather before leaving their perch. Then they drift gracefully down from the trees and walk around their territory, checking things out and feeding. Peacocks are excellent bug hunters, and they like small chunk dog or cat food and poultry feed." Go here for even more info.

She walked away when I approached, but she never fled the scene. In fact, she stared at the gate into the Garden Of Benign neglect for 15 minutes. It sure appeared as if she was waiting for a human to let her into an enclosure. I went back to gardening and she headed for my neighbor's where she appears to be spending the night.

Just in case she returns~~Does anyone need a peahen?

Gail