If you cycle anywhere on the Palos Verdes Peninsula you’re bound to come across peafowl. Sometimes you hear their lonely wails, sometimes they’re right in the road where you’re riding, which is where I met a few peahens on my morning ride.
Peafowl in Palos Verdes are attributed to Frank Vanderlip, a wealthy banker who purchased the 16,000-acre Rancho de los Palos Verdes estate in 1913 and may have received peafowl as gifts. Fast forward and the peninsula saw a 69% peafowl population boom in 2014.
It is common to hear residents complain about the peafowl of Palos Verdes, citing the shrill cries at all hours, roof damage and defecation. I get it. But to me, there’s something unique about these birds. I’m content to coexist with them. The peahens were not phased by my presence. In fact they walked right at me. So I stopped my bike and snapped a photo of these lovely birds and waited until they had passed before resuming my ride.
