There’s a few neighborhoods in the Tampa Bay area that have free roaming wild peacocks. One of the most populated areas is a large neighborhood in Clearwater. The urban legend states the peacocks are descendants of the original Seville Peacock Farm that was located in the same area a long time ago. The farm grew Seville oranges back in the late 1890’s and started raising peacocks in the 1930’s. The farm became a tourist attraction until it was closed in the late 60’s. Many of the peacocks were let loose or “escaped” when the farm closed. Of course I had to go find these beautiful birds.

I heard there was an all white peacock roaming the neighborhood and I was able to find it pretty quickly although I never did see him with his feathers out on display (it was mating season but he was not flirting with the ladies the afternoon I was there). White peacocks are not albinos. They actually have a genetic mutation that is known as Leucism, which causes the lack of pigments in the plumage. He was a beautiful bird and it was fitting that he was sitting on a white truck for me (although I’m sure the truck owner doesn’t like having peacock poo on his truck).

After driving through the neighborhood I found a female white one as well a few streets away.

A few weeks later I was running errands close by and stopped in the neighborhood again and realized there were baby peacocks everywhere. Several Moms only had 1 or 2 babies but one Mom had 6, adding more to the population. There aren’t just a few of them here but tons. I counted 42 peacocks on just 3 streets. It’s interesting that they stay in this one area but there may be more that has migrated farther away. I’m sure they are being fed by many of the homeowners. And they are so loud. I could hear them calling all over.

I’ve stopped by the area many times hoping to get a shot of the white peacock with his feathers spread out so I have a lot more pictures coming.

You can read more about the peacock farm here.