A wild peacock named Kevin has become such a fixture of Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood that residents there have taken to splitting vet bills and installing crossing signs to keep him safe. The bird first showed up in Carolina Juarez’s front yard, and he’s stuck around long enough to survive several run-ins with neighborhood dogs, including at least one attack that left him bleeding and missing feathers.
According to KRON4, Kevin got his name from the bird in the Disney movie Up, and Juarez has become something of a neighborhood expert at spotting him. Juarez told the station that a dog attacked Kevin and pulled some of his feathers out, and that another time he was found bleeding from his body. The peacock recovered both times, KRON4 reported, and Oakland residents pooled money to send him to a local veterinarian for an exam after one of the incidents.
Kevin isn’t a total stranger to Rockridge’s collective memory. Long-time resident Christian Anderson first spotted the bird back on July 4, 2022, when he took up roosting in a tall tree on Oak Grove Avenue near the College Avenue Trader Joe’s, according to The Oaklandside. Some neighbors originally called him Bob before the name Kevin caught on, and resident Ron Manheimer reportedly built a nightly ritual of feeding him nuts and seeds after sunset, per the same outlet.
A Neighborhood Organizes Around One Bird
The community’s devotion to Kevin has produced more than snacks and vet money. Rockridge now has its own peacock crossing signs, and the outpouring of affection even inspired local artist Andrea Scher to create custom “I Brake for Kevin” bumper magnets in December 2025. The magnets, placed at the Rockridge community store The Local Economy to encourage drivers to slow down, reportedly sold out, according to The School of Wonder…