A Wayward Peacock Showed Up in Creston-Kenilworth in March and Became the Star of the Neighborhood

Sir Wellington of Kenilworth first appeared in Amy Westphal’s yard one morning back in March.

“I have chickens, and all of a sudden they were making so much noise,” the graphic designer says. “I came outside to find this peacock perched over them.”

No one is quite sure where the magnificently colored peafowl came from—the working theory is that he’s a castoff from a feral colony that’s lived in the Woodstock area for 20 years. Regardless, he’s stuck around Westphal’s block of Creston-Kenilworth ever since, spending his days hopping and preening on neighboring rooftops and sleeping in the evergreen tree across the street.

In the months since he arrived, Westphal (who gave the bird his knightly title, in honor of a street she once lived on in Chicago) has learned quite a bit about peacocks, and Sir Wellington specifically. For one thing, he’s incredibly vain: She’s caught him staring at his reflection in windows and the wheel wells of cars. Also, she’s discovered peacocks make some horrible noises, somewhere between “a cat and a baby,” she says.

Nevertheless, she’s developed quite an affinity for the shrieking narcissist. In April, she started an Instagram account to document his activities (@portland_peacock)—which mostly consist of wandering around her porch, flying from one roof to the next and, of course, showing off his plumage.

“My phone has transitioned from all photos of my cats and chickens,” she says, “to all photos of this peacock.”