My flock befriended this strange white bird today. It’s the large one in the background of the attached pictures. It’s the size of a small turkey, grey and white, with a prominent crest. It ate some scratch with my girls, then ate some wild blackberries, and departed into the woods.
We’re in upstate NY. I’ve never seen a bird like this before. It almost looks like a peacock but, again, it’s white and we are in upstate NY.
The girls liked her, she seemed harmless - they usually lose their shit if even a little sparrow tries to snag some scratch. They alert me to turkeys and deer regularly but didn’t mind this stranger at all.
Can anyone help me identify this bird?
Oh, I hadn’t thought that peafowl could be white but of course that makes sense. She wouldn’t be wild then, someone must be missing their pet! I wish I had tried harder to get close to her, these seem to be expensive birds and I don’t think she’ll fare well here. Our woods are riddled with predators…
I’ll ask around with the neighbors and take a walk to look for her before it gets too dark.