They are leaving the nest.
Three cherished peacocks that have ruled the roost in the vicinity of a Morningside Heights cathedral for over two decades are retiring upstate.
The Very Rev. Patrick Molloy, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, told The Post that he carried almonds in his pockets for the birds for many years. “At some point, you must be straightforward about what is possible.”
Since 1972, when the Bronx Zoo gave chicks to the institution, peafowl have strutted and quacked across the Cathedral’s 13-acre grounds. At least eight exotic birds have been cared for by the church over the years; the present trio, Harry, Jim, and Phil, were donated by the connected Cathedral School in 2002.
The most recent peacocks, on the other hand, have outlived their wild counterparts and increasingly require specialist care for their diseases. The birds will be relocated by the end of the month to an animal sanctuary in South Salem, New York, so that they may enjoy their “golden years” to the fullest.
“As any pet owner knows, it’s a 15-year commitment, and then it’s goodbye,” said Marsha Ra, 81, who has attended the church for over 50 years and remembers when the three birds were “the size of pigeons.”
“I wish them happiness in their new home.”
These legendary peacocks have given the urban jungle a true sense of the wild during the past two decades. Their springtime mating songs pierced the regular clamor of sirens and cab horns, and their colorful plumage was sometimes a surprise to both locals and tourists.
Philip Binioris, the 36-year-old proprietor of the adjacent Hungarian Pastry Shop, remarked that his girls were astonished by the emergence of feathers in spring. “You see it in a storybook, but to be walking on the Close and all of a sudden see this enormous peacock display was truly extraordinary.”
The group reportedly cultivated a reputation for mischief by searching unprotected pupils’ backpacks for snacks such as chips and nuts.
By virtue of his white feathers, Phil the peacock was clearly identified from his colleagues.
“I was attending a meeting for the school book fair when one of the school administrators asked, ‘Did anyone leave a stroller with a sandwich on the porch? One of the peacocks just ate it,’” recalled writer and former school mom Robin Newman, 55, whose children’s book “No Peacocks” was inspired by the incident.Many locals hope supernatural intervention will bring a new flock of birds to the church’s grounds.
“Hopefully, they’ll bring in some new, young peacocks,” added Binioris. It will be interesting to observe how dissimilar they are.
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