Instagram Is Obsessed With Martha Stewart's Peacock Parade

Animal lover Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II may be the legal owner of all of "the unmarked mute swans" that congregate in "the open waters of England and Wales," per Atlas Obscura, but apparently, she's got nothing on Martha Stewart when it comes to peacocks, a flock of which Stewart houses and permits to wander semi-freely on her 153-acre farm in Katonah, a hamlet of the town of Bedford, New York. And just to be clear, that's 21 of these magnificent pheasants, as Stewart clarified on Twitter in May 2021 in response to a New York Post story that claimed she had (only!) 16. The publication later rectified its error.

It's not clear why Stewart has chosen to raise "peafowl" (a term which refers to both male "peacocks" and female "peahens"), but what is abundantly clear is that she cares deeply for them. This was particularly evident last month after she posted on Instagram about how she "liberated" them from the half-acre enclosure in which they had been living previously, and it is even more so now that Stewart has posted a minute-long video to her Instagram page showing her thriving flock foraging for "homemade brioche croutons" at her back kitchen door. Of course, Instagram is now obsessed with Stewart's peacock parade, and some users are even comparing her to the queen herself thanks to Stewart's expert handling of her flock. 

"Peafowl foraging for homemade brioche croutons at my back kitchen door! Why not????" Martha Stewart wrote on Instagram to accompany a minute-long video of the 21-deep collection of peacocks and peahen that she has wandering semi-freely on her Katonah, New York farm — that is, after her dogs get the run of the place from 7 a.m. until noon each day, as Stewart explains in her video narration. "They are really beautiful, these peacocks," Stewart gushes of her flock during her narration. "Turn around guys, I want to see your beautiful, beautiful, beautiful feathers."

Naturally, Instagram is obsessed with Stewart's "parade" of peacocks, an impressive display with enough pomp and circumstance to merit one of her followers referring to her as "Queen Martha" in the comments section of her post. "I like the way Martha says 'turn around,' and they casually turn...like nothing is going on here...." another of Stewart's followers commented along the same lines. "Your peacocks eating brioche croutons. Never change Martha, I love you so much," wrote another. And apparently, the peacocks feel pretty much the same way. As Stewart notes in her video narration, "Everybody is really happy to be here on my terrace, including this guy right by my feet," referring to the blue-hued peacock pictured above on Stewart's back steps.