Love In The Air In Burton
The Beginning of Burton's love for our Peacocks
It all started in 2016 when Percy, his brother Chester and 4 other juvenile peacock siblings flew into town on the clouds of a storm. All attempts to gather them and send them back to their original home were futile. As Burton already had a mature male peacock for over 25 years, he became the “Daddy” of the flock and was followed single file by the “newbies” all over town.
As nature would have it, the flock dwindled over time to two remaining youngsters : Percy and Chester. The older male, known lovingly as “Blue Boy” or “Burton Ernie”, unfortunately, had an encounter with a pack of dogs that did not end well for him.
The two became one
Now, Burton had 2 remaining peacocks and watching them mature and learn to navigate their 6 ft tail was a sight to behold. Again Mother Nature took her toll and Chester was met with disastrous results on the back roads of Burton.
Percy is now the “King of the Hill” and parades through town owning every bit of it. He perches in our trees each evening and it is not unusual to hear him calling out to whom ever will listen. It is a very loud and distinct cry.
Finding a love interest for Percy
Several years passed and we started hearing whispers, at first, about lonely Percy. Those whispers became chants and this year( 2026) a female peacock arrived in town. She was penned and learning her surroundings. Some of her favorite foods are blueberries with the occasional apple thrown in. Her name is Prissy with all the hope that she and Percy would become a pair. There were several evenings where Percy would declare his presence with loud vocalizations. Prissy”s replies came back in kind.
After a 2 month sequester, Prissy was released and immediately started expanding her horizons. She was spotted in a field behind City Hall and then on Washington St., but never with Percy. Would they ever meet beak to beak?
For a few days there were no sightings of her until Monday morning August 31st. A picture was taken of the two love birds together not far from where Prissy had been living!
It appears that nature again has come into play and brought these two birds together.
Come and see this romance blossom!
Keeper of Burton’s Stories & Folklore
Lynda Zajicek, Contributing editor for the Burton Bulletin is a former educator, former first lady of Burton, Burton Beautification Association President, owner of the Peacock Perch B&B, and the proud cat mom of six wonderful, crazy cats.
How exciting for our little town…