Page 12 - April - June, 2018 CityLine

The Peacocks of Rancho La Loma
by Lisa Hegarty

Perhaps no bird is as widely admired for its beauty as the peacock. With brilliant, jewel-toned
feathers and magnificent iridescent “eyes” in its tail, it has long captured the imagination of people
the world over. In the mythologies of various cultures, the peacock may be regarded as a symbol of
good or evil, or may be associated with the divine. The most familiar species, known as the blue or
Indian peacock, hails from India. But not so long ago a muster of peacocks (also referred to as an
ostentation, pride, or party when in a group) roamed Rancho La Loma, the hilltop winter retreat of
the Litchfield family near Camelback and Litchfield Roads.

Considered a type of pheasant, they are technically referred to as peafowl—the female being called
a peahen and the male a peacock. Peahens lack the long, showy tail, so it is the males we typically
imagine when we picture a peacock with feathers stunningly fanned out, most notably to attract a
mate. A peacock’s tail feathers make up more than 60% of its body length, and, while their size and plumage may seem to preclude
flying, they do indeed fly short distances, making them among the largest of flying birds.
Being omnivores, peacocks eat a variety of plants and animals such as fruit, grains, insects, small mammals, and reptiles, including snakes,
which, in the past, has made them a popular choice for farmers looking to protect their henhouses. It is believed that the peacocks kept
at Rancho La Loma helped control the property’s snake population.
The peacocks, brought to Rancho La Loma by Paul Litchfield in the 1920s, at times numbered over 30, living there not only through
Paul and Florence Litchfield’s lifetime, but through the time their youngest daughter, Edith, and her husband, Wally Denny, lived on
the property from the late 1970s to the early 2000s.

One visitor recalls how the birds would gather in the evening at the base of a tall tree at the south side of the home and fly up one by
one in an apparent pecking order to roost in their favorite spot. When asked how she told them apart, Edith Denny replied that she just
called them all “George”; a name to which they all answered.

Peacocks will generally stay close to home when cared for, and while the peacocks of La Loma typically did so, there was a time when
one wandered down the hill across Camelback Road to make himself at home on the golf course in Litchfield Greens. He was soon
“escorted” back up the hill.
A framed remembrance commemorating the passing of the last peacock was recently found at Rancho La Loma by the Litchfield
Park Historical Society. His given name, like all the peacocks kept there from the start, was George, but he was affectionately known
as “Manolo” by those looking after the property. Sadly, the last peacock of Rancho La Loma was killed by a coyote on June 2, 2014.

Peacock at Rancho La Loma

12 | Apr-Jun 2018 Issue litchfi eld-park.org