It’s no illusion — it’s a real white peahen

DEAR JOAN >> We have a white peahen in our neighborhood that walks down our streets. I don’t know if it was a pet or not. I don’t know if it’s a natural white color or an albino.

Is it a good idea to leave out appropriate food for this bird? The peahen occasionally hangs out at Penitencia Creek Park. She makes a distinctive honking noise.

Please advise.

— Gloria Collins, San Jose

DEAR GLORIA >> White peafowl actually are Indian blue peafowls with a genetic miscalculation. They aren’t albino, but instead have a condition called leucism, which prevents pigment cells from migrating to the feathers. Their eyes (blue), beaks and feet retain the normal coloring for peafowl.

Finding a peahen in the wilds of our suburban landscape is uncommon; finding a white one is even more so. It, and the other peafowl that live around the Bay Area, are most likely escaped pets, and considering the rarity of a white peahen, probably a very expensive escaped pet.

If the bird doesn’t seem in distress, there is no need to provide food. Peafowl have a varied diet consisting of fruit, berries, grains, small mammals, reptiles and insects, especially ants, millipedes, crickets, termites, centipedes, locusts and scorpions. They also eat seeds, grass, plants and flower petals.

They need quite a bit of protein to survive, so your wandering peafowl could be eating cat food and foraging among trash bins for kitchen scraps.

Living on the streets isn’t the safest place for the bird, so the next time you see it, contact animal control or the Humane Society. They might be able to rescue it and find its owner and, if not, find an appropriate home for it.

DEAR JOAN >> Is it wicked or helpful to provide sugar water to hummingbirds, or do you recommend anything else? I also have lots of flowers in the yard, which may be enough!

— K.C., Los Altos

DEAR K.C. >> There is nothing wicked about providing supplemental food to hummingbirds, as long as it’s done correctly. That means having the right ratio of sugar to water (one part sugar to four parts water), using only white sugar and keeping the feeders clean.

Having lots of blooming plants in your yard is an excellent alternative to the sugar water, but when there are no blooms, the feeder provides a little extra for them. Even better than that is reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides in yards, which kill off the insects that the hummers feed on.

DEAR JOAN >> My hummingbird feeders are covered in bees and wasps, and of course, they won’t let the hummingbirds drink. How do I get rid of them?

— De, Valdosta, Georgia

DEAR DE >> Bring your feeders in, clean them and check that they aren’t leaking. Then rehang them in a different part of your yard, in a more shaded place, if possible. The hummers will bother to look for the feeders; the wasps and bees probably won’t.

Also make sure the feeders have lots of red and not much yellow on them, a color that can attract bees and wasps. If all else fails, hang a feeder in the bright sun and let the bees and wasps have it while the hummers sup in the shade.