The famous peacocks in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist are retiring

They fly in the chicken coop.

A trio of beloved peacocks that have ruled the roost around Morningside Heights Cathedral for more than two decades are retiring in the upstate.

“Of course, we could provide them with housing and food, but now they have reached the point that this is not enough,” the Rev. Patrick Molloy, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, told The Post. years of carrying almonds in bird pockets. “There comes a point where you have to be honest about what’s possible.”

Peacocks have been pacing and calling across the cathedral’s 13-acre green grounds since 1972, when the Bronx Zoo donated chickens to the institution. Over the years, the church has taken care of at least eight exotic birds, and the current trio of Harry, Jim and Phil were donated by the affiliated Cathedral School in 2002.

Cathedral Church of John the Evangelist
Peacocks have been living on the territory of St. John’s for more than fifty years.
Christopher Sadowski

However, recent peacocks have outlived the average lifespan of their wild counterparts and are increasingly in need of specialized care for their ailments. To ensure the birds live out their best “golden years”, they are moving to an animal shelter in South Salem, New York, by the end of the month, the church recently announced.

“As any pet owner knows, it lasts 15 years and then goodbye,” mourned Marsha Ra, 81, who has been praying in the cathedral for over 50 years and remembers when three birds were “the size of a dove. ”

“Hopefully they will be happy in their new home.”

Over the past 20 years, these iconic peacocks have filled the urban jungle with a true sense of the wild. Their iridescent plumage was often an unexpected sight to locals and tourists alike, and their springtime mating calls cut through the usual cacophony of sirens and taxi horns.

Peacock Jim in the Church of St. John the Evangelist
Peacocks in St. John’s have brought some wildlife to the urban jungle.
JC Rice

“In the spring, when they opened the feathers, my daughters were amazed,” said Filip Binioris, 36, who owns a nearby Hungarian pastry shop. “You see it in a storybook, but walking around Close and then all of a sudden seeing this huge peacock performance, it was really special.”

The trio also managed to build a reputation for mischief, rummaging through students’ backpacks unsupervised in search of mundane pleasures like the occasional crisp or nuts.

Caretaker of the white peacock Phil.
Peacock Phil is easily distinguished from his comrades by his white feathers.
JC Rice

“I happened to be attending a school book fair meeting and one of the school administrators came into the room and asked, ‘Did anyone leave a stroller on the porch with a sandwich because one of the peacocks had just eaten it’ recalled the 55-year-old writer and former school mom Robin Newman, who wrote her children’s book No Peacocks on a food heist.

Many residents hope that divine intervention will lead to a new group of birds adorning the church grounds.

“I hope they bring new peacocks, young guys,” said Binioris. “It will be fun to see how different they are.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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