For years, residents have come across a wanderer of the winged variety on the Eastern side of Tamworth.
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Less elusive than the famed black panther but more majestic than the mythical yowie, the East Tamworth peacock - or peacocks - have just as much mystery surrounding them.
Namely - where do they come from? Where do they go?
While The Northern Daily Leader's investigations haven't managed to answer those exact questions, some leads have been uncovered.
One popular, and widely circulated theory is that the rogue peacocks spotted around East Tamworth are from the Marsupial Park.
However, Friends of Marsupial Park secretary Gordon Holding can confirm that is not the case.
"They've got nothing to do with us," he said of the roaming peacocks.
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Marsupial Park has two male peacocks, each of which has its own territory within the park.
And Mr Holding said that is where they stay.
"They don't leave the park," he said.
"We've heard of peacocks at Oxley High School, at Oxley Lookout, but they're not ours."
Mr Holding said there were times when residents would inform the Friends of Marsupial Park that one of their birds was going walkabout through the streets.
Only for the two peacocks to be safe and sound in their territory.
"The territories are fairly small, and we put feed in each of those territories to keep them there," Mr Holding said.
"They just roam around their little area in the park."
While Mr Holding didn't know where the birds came from - "We have no idea," he said - he did know of someone who may have an idea - Tamworth councillor Russell Webb.
Cr Webb has about half a dozen peacocks on his property.
So, could these feathery friends in East be his?
"No. I live about 30 kilometres out of town," Cr Webb said.
While he couldn't claim the peacocks, he did have a theory as to where they came from.
"Someone may well have bought peacocks and not had them locked up long enough and they've flown away," he said.
"If you don't lock them up and confine them for a certain amount of time - at least a month - they don't realise where they are is their home."
How does Mr Webb know this?
Well, his first lot of peacocks flew off almost straight away when he purchased them about 20 years ago.
"I learnt the hard way," Mr Webb said.
Peacock sightings happen often throughout East Tamworth and some people even say there could be a wild population in the area.
Regardless of where they come from, they don't seem to be doing any harm. Tamworth Regional Council rangers haven't had any reports this year of peacocks roaming in East Tamworth.
