Petition to remove peacocks from Northampton park attracts more than 400 signatures

NICK SPOORS

Published: 15:28Monday 25 March 2019

A Northampton resident has won the support of hundreds of people in her efforts to free the caged peacocks in Abington Park.

The two birds, an Indian peafowl called Ghandi and a second, white peacock, are the latest in a long line of peacocks at the park stretching back on and off about 100 years.

But regular park visitor Charlotte Holmes has been moved to start a petition aimed at Northampton Borough Council to have the peacocks removed for the sake of their health.

The birds' cages have paving slab-style floors with no grass to graze on and little direct sunlight for most of the day. Peacocks living in the wild like to roost in trees but the park pair are unable to do so.

Charlotte , who labelled the birds' confinement "an embarrassment to our town" said: "To me the whole point of a peacock is strutting around with a big tail, looking magnificent.

"One of them is so stressed or whatever that they're missing a lot of their tail feathers. What's the point of keeping them like that?

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Peacocks are eating differently: Study By Himanshu Nitnaware

Peacocks are eating differently: Study By Himanshu Nitnaware, Pune Mirror

Updated: Feb 21, 2019, 06:00 IST 

Changes in omnivorous national bird’s dietary pattern, with an increased dependence on grains, is egging on wildlife activists to scale up conservation bid. 

A study on peacocks shows that dietary patterns of the national bird have changed making the omnivorous bird more dependant on grains. It also showed that farmers and locals take pride in culturally embedded effort to conserve the bird. The study was conducted by the biodiversity department of the Abasaheb Garware College to understand the diet, communications, reproductive behaviour and population of the bird in different parts of Maharashtra and Rajasthan. 

Extended over a period of three years, the researchers studied peacocks in areas like Morachi Chincholi and hills near Pune and Gangapur dam, Pandavleni and outskirts of Nashik in Maharashtra. While in Rajasthan the research was conducted in Sawai Madhopur, Shahpura, Govindpura and Kalakhora. 

“The idea was to understand the impact of human habitation on the bird and vice-versa, the perception of the locals and if at all any efforts are made by them to protect the bird,” said Dhanashree Paranjpe, a researcher from the college. Focusing only on the dietary patterns in the first phase, the researcher said it was found that 70 per cent of the diet of these birds consists of grains. 

“There is less dependence on other foods like insects, worms and reptiles which is known to be primarily consumed by them,” she added. Speaking about the human and peacock interactions, Paranjpe said in some parts it was observed that locals take special pride and are a matter of identity where peacocks dwell. 

“This is true in reference with places like Morachi Chincholi where eco-tourism has flourished because of the peacocks. Also, in Rajasthan the religious and cultural beliefs also encourage the people to take pride,” she added.

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Male peacocks can make females’ heads vibrate at a distance

18 June 2018

By Chris Baraniuk

Many of us feel a buzz when approached by a charming and attractive stranger, but not in such a literal sense. When a peacock rattles his opulent train feathers at a female of the species, it makes a sound at a specific frequency – causing the crest on her head to vibrate energetically.

Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) are famous for the spectacular train of feathers worn by males. The feathers are brightly coloured and have iridescent “eyespots”. Males display them to attract females.

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Mating peacocks cause mayhem as 'evil' birds attack cars and foul streets in night rampage

Tom Wilkinson

PUBLISHED26/04/2016 | 11:51

People living in Ushaw Moor, outside Durham, claim the birds are roaming loose and "causing mayhem" by fouling the streets and scratching vehicles with their claws and beaks when they see their reflection in the paintwork.

Now fed-up residents have started a petition to demand action is taken about the peacocks and peahens which they say have been causing problems for six years.

Graham Bridge started the petition on the change.org site and it has been backed with more than 100 signatures.

Self-employed in financial services, Mr Bridge works from home and can hear the birds screeching through the day.

And at night, they sit on roofs and call out to each other, disturbing the 4,000 villagers.

"Sleep to me is the number one nuisance, to a degree you can live with the other things," he said.

The peacocks also scratch and peck cars, convinced their reflection in the paintwork is a rival bird.

Mr Bridge said a local resident 's car was attacked so violently the peacock left blood on the vehicle.

"I think the peacock saw it as a threat so it attacked the car, so much so that you could see blood, presumably from its beak.

"It's ridiculous."

A further nuisance for Ushaw Moor residents is the muck the roaming birds leave, which can easily be trodden into a carpet.

"It is evil stuff," Mr Bridge said.

Source ...

Peacocks Die At Chinese Zoo After Being Roughly Handled For Selfies

Date:

February 22, 2016

Source:

Newsy / Powered by NewsLook.com

Summary:

Visitors at the Yunnan Wild Animal Park reportedly hugged and even plucked feathers from two of the zoo's peacocks, which eventually died. Video provided by Newsy

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Peacock's train is not such a drag afterall: Flight unchanged with and without plumage

Date:

September 17, 2014

Source:

University of Leeds

Summary:

The magnificent plumage of the peacock may not be quite the sacrifice to love that it appears to be, researchers have discovered. "These feathers weigh about 300g and can exceed 1.5m, so it's expected that the male birds would be making a significant sacrifice in their flight performance for being attractive," one researcher said. However, experiments showed that in fact, the plumage made no difference to take-off and flight of the birds.

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How rockstars and peacocks attract the ladies

What is it that makes rockstars so attractive to the opposite sex? Turns out Charles Darwin had it pegged hundreds of years ago – and it has a lot to do with peacocks.

In The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), Darwin suggested natural selection can occur by individuals out-producing others in a population, through enhanced ability to secure a mate.

Darwin used the ornate peacock plumage and bird songs to exemplify this concept.

Peacocks are best known for flaunting their brightly coloured and sizable tails. Yet the tail is cumbersome and expends energy.

In addition, its extravagance makes the peacock conspicuous to predators and less able to escape them, reducing its survival prospects. Why then has the tail not been bred out of existence?

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A Peacock Murder Mystery: (Pea)Fowl Play In California

by GLORIA HILLARD

July 15, 2014 5:16 PM ET

Someone is killing the peacocks in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.

The boisterous and colorful birds have been a part of this upscale community near Los Angeles for more than a century. In recent years, the birds have become a source of contention among neighbors — but the conflict has taken a dark turn.

The string of peacock killings is now at 50 over the past two years or so — 20 in the past six months alone — by pellet guns, shotguns, arrows and poison.

Detective James Dondis of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Lt. Cesar Perea of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are investigating the attacks. "The violent manner in which some of the birds are being killed is a big concern," Dondis says. Investigators have some suspects, he says.

It's nearly impossible to avoid seeing — or hearing — the peacocks in Rolling Hills Estates, often perched in trees or on fences, or walking on driveways or lawns in this equestrian neighborhood. The birds seem to know the houses that are peafowl friendly — like Eunice Berman's. Two stroll in her backyard. One is on her roof. Another is lounging in a tree.

"Right now is probably the loudest season we have of them, because it's mating season, and they're calling around to each other," she says.

Berman says car alarms, gardeners, vacuum cleaners and earthquakes can set the birds off. She loves the peacocks but admits not everyone feels the same way. "They're slow crossing the street. They tend to be a little bit messy, and they eat vegetable gardens and certain plants," she says.

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Angry birds! Gang of unruly peacocks trash gran's home as they go on rampage

Jul 05, 2014 06:00

By Todd Fitzgerald

Feral birds wreck hallway and cause havoc in kitchen as neighbours report there could be up to 16 on the prowl

A gang of unruly peacocks is wreaking havoc in Bramhall - with five of them trashing a grandma's home.

As the M.E.N and sister paper the Stockport Express reported recently, the feral birds have been spotted strutting the streets by dozens of residents.

Some have welcomed them, tweeting pictures and telling their neighbours. But others are hoping the feathered invasion will soon end.

Jenny Gibson was at home on Laleham Green when she spotted five peacocks and peahens outside. She went across the road to tell her neighbour, but when she returned, she realised she had left the front door open.

Jenny found three birds wrecking her hallway and another two flying around her kitchen.

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Not Impressed: Peahens Ignore Most of Peacocks' Flashy Displays

A male hoping to attract a female's attention typically needs something to help him stand out from the crowd, and the inhabitants of the animal kingdom are no exception, with peacocks representing particularly showy lovers.

However, in a new study, researchers found that even though peacocks put on some of the most striking and theatrical courtship displays, peahens almost always gazed at the lower part of the peacock's train of feathers, particularly below the neck.

"The females were primarily looking at the lower portion of the males' display," said study author Jessica Yorzinski, an evolutionary biologist at Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind. "They rarely looked at his head, or anything above it. The males put on this huge display, and females seem to look at only a small portion of it."

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To protect national bird, govt to ban trade of peacock feathers

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, May 06, 2013

First Published: 00:21 IST(6/5/2013) | Last Updated: 00:24 IST(6/5/2013)

Beautiful peacock feather handicraft or embroidery would soon be history with the government deciding to ban the trade of their feathers to protect the national bird, nearly five decades after it got the exclusive tag.

Although the government does not have data on the population of the national bird, its number is said to be dwindling because of its poaching for feathers, which fetch a good price in national and international markets.

The only stock-taking of peacock population in India done by World Wide Fund for nature in 1991 had revealed that India was left with only 50% of the total peacock population that existed at the time of Independence. Government officials and animal activists believe that the number has come down further since 1991 because of habitat loss and poaching.

Alarmed by the rising demand of feathers --- popularly known as morpankh --- having outstripped naturally shed feathers available, the environment ministry has decided for a complete clamp down on sale, purchase and transport of peacock feathers.

"A decision has been taken to ban trade of peacock feather," environment and forest minister Jayanthi Natarajan told HT.

Trade of naturally shed peacock feathers is allowed under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which although prohibits killing of the bird. The loophole in the law has been misused and had lead to rampant killing of the bird across India for highly lucrative feather business. With the limited staff, the forest departments have found it difficult to check their poaching.

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Peacock Love Songs Lure Eavesdropping Females from Afar

Dec. 20, 2012 — Deep in the scrublands of Keoladeo National Park in northwest India, one thing was hard for biologist Jessica Yorzinski to ignore: It wasn't the heat. It wasn't the jackals. It was the squawks of peacocks in the throes of passion.

From behind the trees in the distance, she could hear a loud two-part whoop, the distinctive call that male peacocks make right before mating.

During the peacock courtship dance, a male announces that he's ready to make his move by dashing towards the object of his affection and emitting a singular squawk before mounting his mate.

"Peacocks have a number of different courtship calls, but this is the only one specifically associated with the moment before copulation, a time when the female is finally right in front of the male. It's called the hoot-dash display," said Duke University researcher Jessica Yorzinski.

The amorous peacock's signature hoot poses a puzzle for scientists.

For one, he's already got the girl.

"By that point she's already right there, checking him out. You'd think that he might not need another signal at such a late stage in the courtship process," Yorzinski said.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121220144114.htm