Courtesy Emily Thomas

The male peacock shows his feathers at the River Quarry Apartment Complex in Boise. The peacock and two peahens have taken up residence at the complex this summer.

BOISE - Residents at one Boise apartment complex have some unexpected neighbors: a trio of peacocks.

The animals are wowing people living at the River Quarry Apartments off ParkCenter Boulevard.  With a location along the Boise River, the complex serves as a hangout for a wide variety of wildlife - including deer, raccoons, geese and the occasional house cat.

But the peafowl are the animals generating all the buzz (peafowl is the gender-neutral name for the species - males are known as peacocks, while females are peahens).  The animals have been nesting at the top of a chimney on one of the buildings, but spend much of the day wandering around between buildings looking for food.

"It's quite a sight, especially when you see them up on the rooftops, it's not something you see every day," River Quarry resident Emily Thomas said. "The first time I heard them call out to each other I thought a small child was hurt - it's disturbing at first."

The birds are not indigenous to Idaho - or anywhere in North America for that matter, according to Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologist Rex Sallabanks.  He says the birds are native to Asia, but are raised in pens in this country.

"They're essentially domestic, they're like your pet cat or dog," Sallabanks said. "They are totally domesticated. They only way they exist in Europe or North America is with humans."

So how did the birds make their way to River Quarry?

A manager with the apartment complex said it appears the animals escaped from a Boise-area peacock farm. A worker at the farm came looking for the birds earlier this year when word got out of their new home, but the animals were nowhere to be found.

Now the birds have returned – one white, one gray and one blue and green. The more brightly colored animal is male – with large ornamental feathers to attract females.

The birds have a reputation for being mostly ground based – so how do they find their way to the third-story chimney stacks?  It turns out peacocks can fly - if only for a short distance.

"They are not very good fliers because they are so large, but they are able to fly up into trees, almost like a turkey would," Sallabanks said. "They're not going to travel very far on their wings. They walk almost everywhere."

Sallabanks said the birds aren't in danger - unless they get in the way of a passing car.

"They might get themselves in trouble if they get near a highway," he said. "Anyone who sees them could plow into them."

He said the peafowl will eat just about anything, from grass and seed to bugs.  The animals have been seen loitering near dumpsters looking for a meal.

"When my parents were visiting, my mom wanted to see them," Thomas said. "It's definitely a nice distraction."