A Peacock Named Pedro
The Story Of How A Peacock Adopted A Family And A Neighborhood
For three years, we were the adoptive family of a wild peacock.
How does this happen you say? We aren't quite sure where our peacock came from but we have a feeling he flew in to our lives searching for a human family to hang out with and probably a peahen to fall in love with.
Follow along as I share the story of Pedro the Peacock and his brief visit in our lives. I will also share with you about how the whole neighborhood took him under their wings.
***All images are taken and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted.***
A Peeping Peacock
It's A What?!
One day I was working in my office area of our home that happens to be in our basement. I got up to go to another room in the basement and happened to pass by one of the windows that is at ground level. It took a moment for it to register with my brain that 'something' was very intently looking into the window at me!
I let out a yelp to my husband that there was some kind of bird looking in the window at me and by the time he made it to the area to look, I had realized that it was a Peacock peering in at me!
We live in the Pacific NW, USA but we didn't realize that there are actually quite a few peacocks living in the area. My husband inquired at the local feed store when he went to buy some food for our new friend. He asked if anyone had reported a lost peacock and they said, 'Oh that happens quite frequently.' Huh?
Apparently, right around molting time it is quite common for the males to fly from farm to farm each year. Perhaps they are looking for a mate to set up housekeeping with. The odd thing is, we didn't have any peahens or any animals at all at the time. Maybe that made us even more attractive to our new friend.
So we're not exactly sure why this peacock who didn't seem to be too terribly frightened of humans took up residence with us.
Peacock Coloring Book
Pedro And Smokey The Kitty
What Do You Feed A Peacock?
A Discerning Pallet
(image above of Pedro and Smokey hanging out together)
After a few days, it became apparent that our feathered friend was going to hang out for a while and keep us company. We got a huge bag of turkey feed that the folks at the feed store assured us all the local peacocks just raved about.
Apparently, our peacock had a more discerning pallet as he barely even pecked at the turkey feed. One day I was tossing out some old breadcrumbs to the little birds and squirrels. I looked up and the peacock was running over and started pecking frantically at the bread! We finally figured out at least one thing that he would eat.
He wouldn't let us pet him, but he would get fairly close to us when we were feeding him or when he was doing his mating dance. After he had been with us a few years, he did trust us enough to take some bread from us sometimes if we held a big piece out to him.
In time we would come to discover that our peacock would also eat dry cat food much to the dismay of the neighborhood kitty (we named Smokey) that also adopted us. The funny thing was that the peacock was fussy about which morsels he would eat.
It seems that peacocks can see some colors at least as this cat food blend had three or four different colors and some days he would only eat the red morsels. Other days he would only eat the brown ones. It was so funny watching him sort out the ones he would eat and the ones he would not.
A Peacock Named Pedro
What Do We Name Him?
Names For A Peacock
When we realized that the peacock was not going to take off anytime soon, we started thinking of names to call him.
I remembered the movie that came out in the 50's called 'Giant' and a particular segment of that movie came to mind. The family was seated around the Thanksgiving table and they were preparing to carve the big beautiful turkey. Everyone was chit chatting and not paying much attention to the children who began to ask questions about the turkey.
The children had been helping to feed a turkey in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Unbeknownst to them, they were fattening the turkey for the holiday. Apparently, one of them starts to put two and two together!
The children had named the turkey Pedro and had grown quite fond of him. They of course were quite upset when they figured out that this turkey in the midst of their feast was their Pedro!
Thinking of this story and sharing the memory of the movie with my husband, we chuckled and decided to name our peacock Pedro in honor of that turkey from so long ago in the movies.
Dance Of A Thousand Feathers
The Neighborhood Peacock
A Bird Of Many Names
Soon, the whole neighborhood was talking about the peacock that was strolling up and down the street and making his way into everyone's yard.
Over time, we found out that each family that Pedro would visit on our street had given him a different name. Several of the neighbors had children or grandchildren that would visit and Pedro did love doing his full-feathered dance for everyone.
Each family had their own bag of treats that they would toss to him to eat. He would do a dance for them and they would bring out the treats. One family told us they fed him cashews! This silly peacock would eat most anything as long as it was high in protein it sounded like.
We figured that some of the reasons that Pedro would return to our yard time and again was that we didn't have any dogs and we had some wooden posts that provided the perfect perch for a bird with very long tail feathers.
Peacocks Yell
If you are considering getting a peacock or peahen, you may want to listen to this video turned up as loud as possible! (Get ready to plug your ears!) The peacock's yells and calls can go on all hours of the day and night for several months of the year. :)
What Do You Think?
Do you think you would like to have a peacock for a pet?
Living With Peacocks - by David Moyle
Pedro And Sweet Pea
Pedro The Peacock Finds A Girlfriend
True Love
After the neighbors a few yards over had heard Pedro wondering around the neighborhood and doing his unique scream for a mate for about a year or so, they decided to help him find one. So, they went to a farm and bought a peahen.
Their plan was to keep her in a huge cage for several weeks so that she would learn that their yard was her home. Pedro immediately flew over to check out the new bird on the block when he heard her cries in the distance.
Apparently, it was love at first sight for the two. Pedro kept her company all day long every day and would dance for her for hours at a time. She would act coy and shy in her cage all the while secretly enjoying all the attention from her suitor.
After a few weeks, the neighbors released the peahen and she immediately flew all the way to our yard and started hanging out with Pedro. He was beside himself. It looked like his courting and wooing had paid off!
We named this pretty peahen Sweet Pea. She was the sweetest thing and we grew to adore her as much as Pedro did. We found out later that she never did go back to the neighbor's yard that was supposed to be her home.
Several weeks later however, Sweet Pea was no more. She disappeared and the whole neighborhood including Pedro mourned her disappearance.
Poor Pedro. His love was short lived, but we think he was a better bird from having known dear Sweet Pea.
The same neighbors bought another peahen the next year and this time they bought a much younger one and her wings were clipped before they bought her. Pedro fell in love again but she wasn't interested. We think she was just too young for him. Besides, no bird could compare to Sweet Pea.
More Images Of Pedro And Sweet Pea
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Peacock Coloring Pages
Where Did He Go?
No More Pedro
After Thanksgiving in 2010, we didn't see Pedro anymore. The whole neighborhood has discussed and surmised about his whereabouts.
Many of us feel that he flew on to another wide-open space in hopes of finding another family to adopt and in the pursuit of true love.
We still have several of his tail feathers that he would shed at the end of each summer as reminders of the beautiful bird that came to stay for a while.
Wherever Pedro is, we hope he is safe, happy, and loved.
Pedro UPDATE!! 5-10-2012
Where Is Pedro The Peacock?
Thought I would post an update for the Pedro Peacock readers!
While out for a walk a few days ago, one of the neighbors on our street stopped us to chat. He said he thinks he knows where Pedro is!
He went on to explain that he had been driving further down one of the side roads near our home and over a mile down the way. Up in one of the trees by a lady's house sat this peacock and he stopped to investigate.
The lady told him when Pedro had shown up out of the blue and it was about the time he went missing from our neighborhood!
We're pretty sure that Pedro has indeed found a loving home and is very happy. Our neighbor said that he hangs out in the trees in her yard and she feeds him so I'm sure he is fine.
Hopefully he'll find a girlfriend again one day and be even happier! :)
I would love to hear your thoughts and your comments in general!
