Italian village invaded by loved-up peacocks sparks travel chaos and sleepless nights for locals

A small coastal village on Italy's Adriatic shore has found itself besieged by a barrage of peacocks looking for love during the spring breeding season.

Punta Marina, situated near the historic city of Ravenna, is now home to approximately 120 of the flamboyant birds as numbers have surged.

The growing population has brought considerable disruption to village life, with residents complaining of vehicles being damaged and roads blocked by wandering fowl.

Among sleepless nights caused by the distinctive mating calls that echo through the streets, the situation has created a rift among locals over how best to address the feathered takeover.

Marco Manzoli, an 81-year-old former bus driver, has been particularly vocal about the problems, describing the peacocks as delinquents with excessive droppings.

He said: "The population has boomed over 30 years and it's too big now - they disrupt sleep, disrupt traffic and dirty the ground with ice-cream-like excrement, which we then step in."

The birds have also taken to climbing onto parked vehicles, leaving scratches across paintwork.

Mr Manzoli expressed concern that summer visitors drawn to the village's Blue Flag beach may be deterred unless they can find covered parking to protect their cars from the peacocks.

Not everyone in Punta Marina views the peacocks as pests, however.

Claudio Ianiero, a 64-year-old pastry chef who sells peacock-shaped biscuits, has pushed back against dramatic accounts of an invasion or health crisis.

He explained the birds have traditionally inhabited the pine forest behind the village, but have increasingly sought refuge in the gardens of empty properties to escape natural predators such as wolves and foxes.

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"Out there they have many natural enemies. Here however, they have none, and they are proliferating in a way that is difficult to control," he said.

Mr Ianiero described the colourful creatures as "something magic" for the community.

The peacock predicament has, according to supermarket worker Mara Capasso, 57, "split the town into two factions".

She believes the birds belong in woodlands and pine forests rather than on populated streets.

"They need to be in their natural environment," she said.

Ravenna council's 2022 relocation effort collapsed following objections from animal welfare campaigners, though adoption requests are now arriving from across Italy.

Meanwhile, Emanuele Crescentini, 50, has taken matters into his own hands, donning a fluorescent orange jacket to patrol as a self-appointed peacock "ranger".

"We could set an example of intelligent and mature coexistence. It can be done," he said.