Rome has its pigeons and Venice its voracious seagulls, but a village on Italy’s Adriatic coast says it is battling a rather different avian menace – a plague of peacocks.
The inhabitants of Punta Marina say they are being driven to distraction by the birds, which keep them up at night with their strident screeches, eat the flowers in their gardens, damage their cars and deposit droppings all over the place.
Until a few years ago, there were a handful of peacocks living in the seaside resort, which is close to the city of Ravenna.
Locals say they proliferated during the Covid pandemic, taking advantage of the absence of vehicles and people in the streets during the long months of lockdown. There are now estimated to be around 120 of the elegant but noisy birds living in Punta Marina.
Residents say that the male peacocks have a habit of aggressively pecking at cars, apparently mistaking their reflections in vehicle windows for rivals.
Many of the birds have found a convenient refuge in an abandoned apartment block in the town, where they can remain undisturbed.
“The building is right next to my house and every day I see at least 30 of them,” said Riccarda Nolo, a resident. “The peacocks took up residence in the abandoned garden around three years ago. I sleep two hours a night, maximum, because I’m woken at 3am by their calls. My alarm goes at 4.30am because I have to go to work.
“Sooner or later, I’m going to go mad. To say nothing of the €1,000 I had to spend to fix my roof after they shifted lots of the tiles, which let the rain in. I can’t stand it any longer.”
The presence of the peacocks has sharply divided opinion in the town. Some locals say they are a menace and need to be eliminated, while others say they are attractive and should be allowed to live in peace.
“The peacocks have become a big attraction for Punta Marina, there is no way they should be taken away,” said resident Antonella Ravaglia.
The birds even have their own Facebook page, full of memes, AI-generated images and impassioned debate about their future.
Since news of the peacock plague was reported by the Italian media, they have become a tourist attraction, with visitors flocking to the town in the hope of taking selfies with the birds.
Authorities are to conduct a survey of the population this month, possibly using aerial drones, to establish how many peacocks now rule the roost in Punta Marina.
It has been suggested that some should be relocated.
A nearby animal park called Safari Ravenna has offered to take 20 of the peacocks.
Elettra Lamborghini, an Italian pop star, has also said she would be willing to adopt some of the birds, adding them to the small flock of peacocks that already live in her garden.
The model and television personality is the granddaughter of Ferruccio Lamborghini, who founded the eponymous sports car company in the 1960s. Her first album was entitled Twerking Queen.
“We have had a number of private offers to take in the peacocks in recent days,” said Francesca Impellizzeri, a council official.
“We are taking them all into consideration but first we want to carry out the census, which has never been done before. It will be done by the end of May, probably with the help of drones.”