By Joe Anuta
The mystery of the wayward Queens peacock has been solved.
The principal of John Bowne HS in Flushing has confirmed that the peacock seen wandering around Kew Gardens Hills belongs to the school’s agriculture program, and educators are working with animal control for the bird’s safe return, according to the city Department of Education.
On Wednesday afternoon, Phil Dickler, a teacher at the school, was searching for the winged creature and spotted it on the roof of a home near the corner of 70th Avenue and 147th Street.
Last night he had checked on the bird and found it missing.
A feathered creature of the same species had been spotted recently around Kew Gardens Hills like a spectre, appearing in spots in the residential neighborhood, but ultimately eluding authorities who have been trying to capture it for more than a week. But the errant bird’s identity has been confirmed.
“We want our bird back,” he said while clutching a large pole with a net and waiting for the peacock to come down off a roof, where it was munching on a strawberry and staring at itself in the reflection of a window.
Dickler believes the colorful fowl had been traveling between the streets of Queens and back to the school.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
