Wild Peacocks Roaming the Hudson Valley? Residents Squawk with Excitement

Did you know semi-wild peafowl have been roaming Ulster County for years?

It's true, and for the thousands of new Ulster County, New York residents who now call the area home since the pandemic, it may seem stranger than fiction. Just about every local has been known to spot wild turkeys and the occasional pheasant, but peacocks? They're hardly native to the Hudson Valley region.

Photo by Vivek Doshi on Unsplash

A pair of peacocks have been running loose for the last several weeks after being spotted in the western part of Kingston, luring the Ulster County SPCA out of their relative social distance to perform a military-like rescue operation to keep the beautiful birds out of incredibly cold temperatures, dangerous interactions, and impending storms.

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The pair of birds seem to be blue peafowl, the most commonly known peacock variety, which can stand up to colder temperatures than other varieties. Blue peafowl, also known as Indian peafowl, are actually native to the Indian subcontinent and prefer the dry lowland areas of Sri Lanka most. It's ability to adapt has made it a popular pet and guardsman choice across Europe and the Americas, especially as they're known to be fairly self-sufficient thanks to expert foraging skills. Some blue peafowl have even been known to survive cold winters in Northern Canada, but require shelter and typically do best with some degree of human protection and provisions. Local dogs, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and even large birds of prey like this one have been known to hunt and eat peafowl, though.

A Kingston homeowner spotted the peacocks in her yard last week and realized she might be able to trap them with a feeding station. She somehow managed to got the pair of beautiful birds into her garage and then called the Ulster County SPCA to lure them into a cage. The captured duo are now due to stay under mandatory quarantine for the next 30 days before heading to their new permanent home after being adopted. Until then, the peacocks will move into a roomy aviary pen where the Ulster County SPCA says they will live the "good life." Feel free to insert your own jokes about quarantine hotels being for the birds.

Here's the kicker though -- if you ask any longtime resident of Kingston, West Hurley, or Woodstock, they'll tell you trapping this dynamic duo is just tip of the peafowl ice berg.

Facebook, Ulster County SPCA

In fact, users of the popular neighborhood site Next Door have been reporting sightings of more than two peafowl for years. They tend to wander the Kingston area in groups of three to four at a time, showing up in suburban neighborhoods as if they own the place. Rumor has it the they roam the areas of Zena Road in Woodstock and Cardinal Drive in Kingston most often.

Next Door

Next Door users seem to have a new thread about the local peafowl every week, with new photos, sightings, and questions being posted almost every day of the week. The influx of new area residents seem particularly exciting, with some posters saying, "this is the best unexpected local gift I never thought to ask for, and I thought the public schools were good!"

Others have been less enthusiastic and more fearful, with comments like "Who would just let their pet birds run loose? Aren't they worried they'll get hit by cars or hunted or something? Seems really cruel to do. We have a lot of trouble with coyotes. They could get eaten," and another writing with concern that, "Maybe the owner died and nobody realizes the peafowl are running loose? I wish we could find the owners or the house they came from to alert them."

Have you seen this group of peafowl roaming your area in Ulster County? We'd love to see and publish your photos and anecdotes. Drop a comment below or reach out to me on social media to submit images.