White peacocks walk around the estate. This is a tradition that started around 1400. At that time, feudal lords lived on Staverden. They had to manage and guard the estate for the owners, the Gelderland dukes. They were required to keep white peacocks so that they could supply peacock feathers for the Duke's helmet. The Staverden estate is therefore also called 'The white peacock castle'. Nowadays, the peacock feathers are presented annually to the king's commissioner in Gelderland.
The white peacocks of Staverden are nationally known. The animals have beautiful pure white plumage. White peacocks have dark eyes and are therefore not albinos. The peacock rooster has a large and long tail. Especially in the spring during the mating or courtship season, it is spread wide to show it off.
Centuries-old tradition
White peacocks were kept at Staverden as early as 1400. Because of this centuries-long tradition, Staverden is also known as the peacock castle. The estate was then the court of the Gelderland dukes. The estate was loaned to various noble families with the obligation to supply the white peacock feathers to decorate the duke's helmet. This tradition is continued by Geldersch Landschap. Instead of the duke, the Queen's Commissioner is now presented with the peacock feathers and they now adorn a vase in the provincial government building.
Origin
Peacocks are originally from India and Sri Lanka. The peacock is a color mutation of the common blue peacock. Purebred white peacocks are quite rare. Most white peacocks elsewhere in our country are related to the animals of Staverden. The genetic base for the population is so narrow that the animals are susceptible to hereditary transmitted diseases, such as the so-called black head disease, which causes limb abnormalities.
Population
The current population of peacocks has been around thirty specimens in recent years. The animals have not been clipped and sleep in the trees at night. On the ground they are vulnerable to foxes in the dark. Especially the younger animals, which sometimes sleep too low in the trees, often fall prey to the fox. Foxes even manage to climb over the fence with all their loot. Although they rarely do this, the peacocks can fly effortlessly over the fencing. Only during courtship time there is quite a bit of unrest and the young roosters go exploring. Sometimes it happens that a blue peacock from the area comes to visit.