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February 14, 2008 - Peacocks put on a show10A • The Suffolk Times • February 14, 2008 Peacocks put on a show We were told that on the island to the south of us there are large groups of peacocks roaming around. Although I'm usually not too excited about domesticated birds, the number of peacocks attracted my curiosity, so off we went, our destination a mere five miles away. We were told to look for an old, established community where the peacocks roamed at will_ Usually peacocks are not Focus tolerated by people because O N of their loud, ear- splitting calls. NATURE One peacock is by Paul bad enough but Stoutenburgh a larger group must be just unbearable. We found the community where the peacocks were supposed to be but saw no peacocks. We'd drive around; perhaps they had moved. Up this road and down another we drove. Then we saw one, then another; there must have been a dozen or more; brown, white and green — all females. All had that peculiar regal adornment on the top of their heads. They were feeding and scratching in someone's front yard. Another reason peacocks are not welcome in some communities is that they can devastate a garden or ruin a lawn. The peacock most of us are familiar with is the Indian peacock that has that flashy blue head and neck. The fe- male is a drab mottled brown color to blend into the earthy colors that cam- ouflage her when she is nesting and caring for her young. The male takes no part in bringing up the family. What impresses everyone about the peacocks is the magnificent covert feathers of the male when he does his "thing" while courting the female. These feather displays fan out to reach six to seven feet. The ornamen- tal feathers of the peacock — which can grow to six feet long — when not in use in courting, drag along on the ground much like the train of a bride's wedding dress as she walks down the aisle. The peafowl is the national bird of India. Though most of us call all of them peacocks, it is the male that The identity of our mystery bird was finally solved through searching on the Internet. It is the blue-capped cordon bleu finch, which is native to Ethio- pia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania in East Africa. They are sold in pet stores, but evidently some have escaped and are doing well in the wild. This one visits our feeder twice a day. G J ro ar a 1 l Most of us can visualize the male peacock as he spreads his feathers into a gigantic fan when courting a female. When the bird is not courting, he drags his tail feathers along behind him. is called a peacock; the females are been around for centuries and played called peahens and the young are an important part in the history of the called peachicks. These peafowl have Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. KATIE -GIRL NORTH FORR's DULL- SERVICE, FOR DOGS, CATS, J� ana HORSES, EXOTICS • Walk/feed while you work or vacation • Round -trip to your veterinarian, groomer, play dates • Limited day care and vacation boarding for small dogs "No Cages" Serving all pets with love and respect 631- 734 -4265 • 516- 695 -0137 Open 7 days, 24 hours • References upon request The first close association I had with a peacock was at the house of a spry old gentleman in Mattituck who had a pet peacock. It would come into the house, sit on his lap and watch television with him. Then there was Pret Tuthill, one of the pillars of the community, who had peacocks for years in back of his spacious home in Cutchogue. I still get calls from people who report stray peacocks in their yards, and then there was a caller who reported one sitting on his hand rail waiting for its daily handout of seeds. All these peacocks are escapees or ones that people let loose when the owner got tired of them. Peafowl can live to be 40 or 50 years old. In an earlier article we mentioned a little blue - colored bird that we had seen at our feeder and so we had to go to our books and see if we could find out just what it was and where it came from. None of our reference books produced an answer. However, they did get us going, which meant we had to dig deeper to satisfy our curiosity. Barbara went to the computer and after much searching solved our identification problem. What we have been seeing is a blue- capped cordon bleu finch. How it got here we can only speculate; it is a bird that is eas- ily trapped and sold in the market as a caged bird. Some of what we found out was they are sold for $200 to $250 in pet stores. However, here in Florida they seem to be able to make it in the wild. A pretty little bird, its feathers are mainly blue on the head and breast with brown highlights on the back and wings. It has a pointed red bill that is equipped to open seeds to get at the kernel inside. We can hear its weak, squeaking call in the trees before it arrives to feed. As we watch it just outside our window when it comes to feed in the morning and evening, it takes a seed and then very quickly works it around in its mouth until it separates the shell, which falls to the ground. It is a shy bird and of- ten comes by itself when other birds are not around. We've enjoyed our new little visitor and will keep our feeders full so it keeps coming back. Come in to see our upholstery line Runxoj, 477 -3525 `ga vh nurs. - Sun. � 11 am - 5 P 416 Main St., Greenport � � m r Runxoj, 477 -3525 `ga vh nurs. - Sun. � 11 am - 5 P 416 Main St., Greenport � � m The Suffolk Times • Fe. bruary 14, 2008 ut on We were told that on the island to the south of us there are large groups of peacocks roaming around. Although I'm usually not too excited about domesticated birds, the number of peacocks attracted my curiosity, so off we went, our destination a mere five miles away. We were told to look for an old, established community where the peacocks roamed at will. Usually peacocks are not Focus tolerated by people because ON of their loud, ear - splitting calls. NATURE One peacock is by Pain bad enough but Stoutenburgh a larger group must be just unbearable. We found the community where the peacocks were supposed to be but saw no peacocks. We'd drive around; perhaps they had moved. Up this road and down another we drove. Then we saw one, then another; there must have been a dozen or more; brown, white and green — all females. All had'that peculiar regal adornment on the top of their heads. They were feeding and scratching in someone's front yard. Another reason peacocks are not welcome in some communities is that they can devastate a garden or ruin a lawn.. The peacock most of us are familiar with is the Indian peacock that has that flashy blue head and neck. The fe- male is a drab mottled brown color to blend -into the earthy colors that cam- ouflage her when she is nesting and caring for her young. The male takes no hart in bringine ut) the family. of us can visualize the male peacock as he spreads his feathers into a tic fan when courting a female. When the bird is not courting, he drags What impresses everyone about the peacocks is the magnificent covert feathers of the male when he does his "thing" while courting the female. These feather displays fan out to reach six to seven feet. The ornamen- tal feathers of the peacock — which can grow to six feet long — when not in use in courting, drag along on the ground much like the train of a bride', wedding dress as she walks down- the The peafowl is the national bird of India..Though most of us call all of them peacocks, it is the male that is called a.peacock; the females are called peahens and the'young are called peachicks. These peafowl have been around for centuries and played an important part in the history of the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. The first close association I had with a peacock was at the house of a spry old gentleman in Mattituck who had a pet peacock. It would come int, the house, sit on his lap and watch television with him. Then there was Pret Th hill, one of the pillars of the community, who had peacocks for years in back of his spacious home in eutchogue. I still get calls from people who report stra peacocks in their yards, and then there was a caller who reported one sitting on his hand rail waiting for its daily handout of seeds. All these cacocxs are escapees or ones that . eople let loose when the owner got red of them. Peafowl can live to be 0 or 50 years old. In an earlier article we mentioned little blue - colored bird that we had ;en at our feeder and so we had to to our books and see if we could id out just what it was and where came from. None,of our reference )oks produced an answer. However, ey did get us going, which meant had to dig deeper to satisfy our Suffolk "limos photos by Barbara Stoutenburgh The identity of our mystery bird was finally solved through searching on the Internet. It is the blue- capped cordon bleu finch, which is native to Ethio- pia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania in East Africa. They are sold in pet stores, but evidently some have escaped and are doing well in the wild. This one visits our feeder twice a day. Barbara went to the computer and after much searching solved our identification problem. What we have been seeing is a blue- capped cordon bleu finch. How it got here we can only speculate; it is a bird that is eas- ily trapped and sold in the market as a caged bird. Some of what we found out was they are sold for $100 to $150 in pet stores. However, here in Florida they seem to be able to make it in the wild. A pretty little bird, its feathers are mainly blue on the head and breast with brown highlights on the back and wings. It has a pointed red bill that is equipped to open seeds to get at the kernel inside. We can hear its weak, squeaking call in the trees before it arrives to feed. As we watch it just outside our window when it comes to feed in the morning and evening, it takes a seed and then very quickly works it around in its mouth until it separates the shell, which falls to the ground. It is a shy bird and of- ten comes by itself when other birds are not around. We've enjoyed our new little visitor and will keep our feeders full so it keeps coming back.