For years, an all-white peacock that wanders Mohawk Street in East Pasadena has become a friendly and popular neighbor. Gwendolyn Thornton, a resident whose family has affectionately nicknamed the bird “Sugar,” recalls seeing the distinctive bird around the block for the past two years.
“We have a lot of wild peacocks around our area,” Thornton said. “We’ve seen him at other people’s houses and he likes to walk around in our driveway. He’s friendly with humans. He’s even tried to come into our house a couple of times — that’s how familiar he is with humans.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 18, around 4:30 p.m., a mailman allegedly had an altercation with the bird on Mohawk Street between Rosemead Boulevard and Michillinda Avenue.
The peacock was following the mailman on a driveway, residential security footage appears to show. Initially, the mailman appears to try to wave the bird away, but he then picks up an object and throws it at the peacock, according to footage.
Security footage later shows the peacock standing near the mail truck in the roadway. The mailman emerges from the side of the mail truck and hits the bird with an object, causing the peacock to flail on the ground, unable to get up.
Thornton said her father found the peacock lying in the street, incapacitated, shortly after the altercation took place. The mailman had left the scene, she said.
Local animal resource center and shelter Pasadena Humane, which provides animal control services in Pasadena, collected the peacock and is providing care. The peacock has seen the veterinarian, who plans to do X-rays to evaluate the bird’s condition, said Kevin McManus, public relations and communications director at Pasadena Humane.
“We’re going to be as thorough as possible,” McManus said.
While the peacock is still undergoing evaluation, McManus said that he is optimistic about the prognosis and that the peacock appeared to be more mobile on Wednesday morning.
The animal control team is actively investigating the incident, McManus said.
The United States Postal Service is also investigating, said Kristina Uppal, a strategic communications specialist with the USPS.
“The Postal Service is reviewing the incident and gathering the facts. We expect our employees to conduct themselves professionally and appropriately while performing their duties,” Uppal said via email. “Postal employees in this area have experienced previous encounters with peacocks, and the Postal Service has been working with Pasadena Humane regarding concerns involving the birds.”
Friction regarding the peafowl population in Los Angeles County is not new. While some residents enjoy the presence of peafowl, others view them as a nuisance. Concerns about the peafowl population have led to ordinances such as a ban on the feeding of peafowl on public properties, which the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed in 2021. Other cities have adopted peafowl management policies. For example, Rancho Palos Verdes last year started a humane trapping and relocation process in response to an uptick in the peafowl population.
Intentionally harming a peacock can result in a felony charge in California and can lead to fines or jail time.
While Thornton has seen “Sugar” come near people often, she has never seen the peacock hurt anyone.
“We’re hoping that mailman doesn’t come around to our area anymore, especially if he doesn’t want to be around peacocks,” Thornton said. “We’re hoping Sugar is able to get well.”