Anyone walking down the residential road is likely treated with a tranquil scene—sunlight passes through towering trees that provide shade for large homes of varied architectural styles. The only noise that can be heard is the passing of cars on the boulevard.

Oh, and the peacocks screaming.

"For us, it's a pleasant sound," said Jim Russell, a Pine resident of more than 21 years. "We've lived there a long time. That was one of the unique things—most people aren't used to walking into their backyard and seeing a peacock."

Russell and his wife like them so much, in fact, that they've tried to help the animals breed. When they noticed that all but two male birds had disappeared about four years ago, Russell and his wife, Chris, ordered three female peacocks and released them in their yard. The peacocks bred, laid eggs and started a new little flock (though they didn't necessarily stay together all the time). There were about 10 or 12 birds once again roaming Pine.

"There used to be a lot of baby peacocks around," resident Sean Ernst said. "Every summer you used to see them walking around. Then some guy took them away."

Russell and his wife noticed that the birds had indeed started disappearing and got clued into what was happening by a local veterinarian.

"They had information about [a man] that had a variety of exotic birds in the Santa Cruz Mountains," he said. "He was regularly getting called to come and pick them up off our street. Somebody doesn't like the peacocks being there."

Many neighbors do enjoy the remaining two male peacocks. Harry Motro said his family is used to the birds and feels bad for the "lonely" birds.

"We love the peacocks," he said. "They add character to our neighborhood."

Motro, Russell and others said they thought they knew which neighbor had called to remove the birds, but no one would say who that was.

Vincent Bellotti, whose family has lived on Pine Avenue for more than 13 years, said he could understand why newer neighbors might not like the birds around. Though the peacocks can be loud when screeching their distinctive mating call, Bellotti said he doesn't even think of them as being noisy anymore.

"Some of the newer people that came here say they are," he said.

Russell agreed that peacocks don't suit everyone's aesthetic desires.

"They crap everywhere," he said. "I can understand why it might not be pleasant for somebody that wants a nice, manicured yard."

Nobody is exactly sure where the birds came from. Bellotti said the whole neighborhood used to be a peacock farm before it was developed. Russell said he had heard they were pets of a woman who once lived on the street. When she died, he said, they began roaming the area.

However they got there, they have become a Los Gatos attraction.

"You run into people who live in town and they remember—maybe they're 40, maybe even 50—and they'll say, 'I remember Pine Avenue and going to see the peacocks,' " Russell said. "They've been around a long time."

Pine resident Diane Wade has only lived on the street one year, but she loves the birds as much as her neighbors who have lived there much longer.

"For us it's like cheap entertainment," Wade said. "He likes to strut his stuff. His wingspan is almost as big as the double French doors."

The brightly colored feathers and impressive wingspan may be intended to impress prospective mates, but right now they're wasted on humans who simply like the view (and a few who don't).

"The males have probably gone through two seasons without females around," Russell said. "There would have been a pretty good population of them with the surviving females. I'd really like to get some more, but it's not worth the battle with the neighbors."

If the birds don't somehow find mates on their own, the screaming may one day stop. And the silent walk down Pine Avenue will be sad music to Russell's ears.