Peacock ‘invasion’ of Italian seaside town ruffles feathers

F ederico Bruni was sitting on a bench, eating a piadina romagnola (flatbread sandwich) and minding his own business, when a peacock strutted up in the hope of a few crumbs. High-pitched squeals emanated from the direction of a disused military barracks across the road. “That would be the call to love,” Bruni said. “The male peacocks are courting the female ones – we’re in peak mating season.” As another couple of peacocks wandered by, their iridescent trains sweeping the pavement behind them, this could be mistaken for a wildlife park. But the scene is Punta Marina, a seaside town on the Adriatic coast of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region that has been colonised by the birds, to the delight – or despair – of its approximately 1,000 residents. The birds have made their home in the gardens of abandoned properties and perch on rooftops and fences, or peak out from trees. They carefully navigate the traffic, sometimes tapping their beaks on the windows of parked cars after catching their reflection. The Guardian saw one shamelessly leaping over the gate of a block of flats and doing a poo on the entrance steps. The birds have made their home in the gardens of abandoned properties and perch on rooftops and fences. Photograph: Nicolas Brunetti Photograph: Francesco Gilioli/AFP/ They don’t bother Bruni, who frequently comes to his holiday home in Punta Marina. “It’s no different to seeing a cat, really, they’re part of the fabric of the town,” he said. Others are less welcoming. …