Faculty of Arts

Introduction

Peafowl took up residence in the Arts building in 1975 when the University's landscape architect at the time, Jean Verschuer, introduced a small flock of two peacocks and three peahens to the forecourt of Winthrop Hall. These peafowl were given as a gift to the University by Sir Lawrence Brodie-Hall. One peacock and one peahen immediately fell victim to nearby traffic and lost their lives. The remaining three peafowl sought a more appropriate living environment and chose the sheltered inner courtyard of the Arts building.

A debate amongst academic staff in the Faculty of Arts at the time concerning whether or not to keep the peafowl resulted in an overwhelming majority stating they felt their presence enhanced the academic atmosphere of the faculty. It is not known for sure whether the original three peafowl form a part of the current flock, but it is not considered unlikely as captive peafowl are known to live for 30 years and more.

Their presence within the Faculty has become an integral component of the cultural and social life within the building, and something of an icon for the University as a whole, and indeed the peafowl vocalisations have become an accepted, if not anticipated, part of performances in the building's New Fortune Theatre.  Students and tourists alike take particular pleasure in the beauty, behaviour and character of the birds, particularly during public events such as UWA's annual Expo, and see them as being as much a part of the faculty as the physical buildings themselves. Indeed for students in particular, the peacock has become a faculty emblem, and inspiration for the student newspaper, the Peafowl.

Responsibilities

The Faculty of Arts is committed to the ongoing care and maintenance of the peafowl. All decisions concerning their care and maintenance are therefore the sole responsibility of the Faculty Office.

Numbers and identification

The Arts Faculty Office has determined an optimal figure of six peafowl living in the complex at any one time. Ideally there should be only one adult male of breeding age (3+ years) at any one time. Following breeding season there may be any number of chicks present for such time as is necessary for them to mature sufficiently to determine the sex of the chicks and then arrange relocation. Where peachicks have successfully survived infancy the Arts Faculty Office assumes responsibility for relocating the excess numbers.

Feeding

Responsibility for regularly feeding the peafowl lies with a volunteer caretaker who is usually a member of staff with Arts.

The adult peafowl are fed exclusively on a mix of poultry laying pellets and black sunflower seeds. Food pellets scattered in lawn area of the Patricia Crawford Courtyard.

Very young peachicks up to the age of approximately three months are fed exclusively on Turkey Starter crumbles as the adult food is too large for small gullets. During this period a shallow water container is maintained for young chicks to avoid drowning in the adult water bucket. The adult water bucket is located beneath the tap in the garden bed at the eastern end of the New Fortune Theatre courtyard. The feeding location for peachicks is usually within the garden bed at the rear of the New Fortune Theatre, which is the usual preferred nesting and laying location of the peahens.

The Arts Faculty Office arranges the ordering, delivery and payment of the poultry laying pellets, black sunflower seeds and Turkey Starter crumbles.

Cleaning

By arrangement with the University's Cleaning Operations Supervisor, the balconies and walkways of the New Fortune Theatre on all three floors of the northern wing of the Arts building are swept, scraped and washed to remove the build-up of faeces once every month. This is monitored and funded by the Arts Faculty Office. This is the area of greatest concentration of faeces as the balustrades of the New Fortune Theatre provide the peafowl with  appropriately high roosting points. The dropping of faeces in other locations is minimal and not considered problematic.

There is no known health hazard associated with the presence of the faeces, other than that a build-up of dried faeces could cause discomfort to people with respiratory problems if airborne matter is inhaled.

A report prepared by the Department of Zoology in 1984 had the following findings:

• The amount of staining of brickwork and paving from the peafowl is significantly less than that caused by other birds inhabiting other buildings in the city such as swallows, pigeons and gulls.
• No fly problems are associated with peafowl faeces because of the quick-drying nature of the faecal matter. 
• The peafowl do not tend to leave uneaten food around their feeding tin [and any found is quickly consumed by crows, magpies, ducks and doves].

Ill Health / Death of a Peacock

All veterinary bills are the responsibility of the Arts Faculty Office. Contact the UWA Animal Care Services team for assistance in the case of ill health.

In the event of the death of a peafowl contact UWA Animal Services, Animal Care Services for assistance with conducting a necropsy to determine reason of death (to check if there could be any diseases that could affect the rest of the flock) and for disposal.

Peacock Wandering Off Campus

Should a peacock happen to be wander and is sighted off campus, all sightings should be reported to the Arts Faculty Office (Dean’s Office Faculty Administrative Officer as first point of contact).The faculty will arrange to send out an email to the secretaries mail list to encourage reports of sightings, and inform rangers of Nedlands and Subiaco, as well as Kings Park management to be on the lookout and if possible to provide assistance in cordoning the bird in an enclosed area until such time as the faculty is able to organise retrieval of the peacock. Staff and students should be informed not to attempt to catch the bird for safety reasons, but to report sightings as soon as possible.

Enquiries and Complaint Handling

The first point of reference for anyone wishing to make enquiries or complaints concerning the peafowl is the caretaker. Contact details of the current caretaker can be obtained from the Arts Faculty Office.

This information was first compiled in 2005 by Leitha Delves and Michael Rafferty. This info was last updated: 21 November 2012.