Tom McCallie has been curious for weeks about his new neighbor, but it was not until last week that he saw him for the first time.

"I looked up and there he was, parked on my neighbor's chimney," McCallie said. "He seemed to be surveying his kingdom."

The newcomer, a bold and colorful peacock seen strutting along Lakemont Drive, has made himself a fixture in the Roanoke County neighborhood. Residents first spotted the majestic bird several weeks ago, and since then have seen him on numerous occasions, roaming through yards, gardens and woods nearby.

The bird, neighbors say, appears comfortable around humans, freely perching on rooftops and porches during daylight hours.

"The fact that he sees you does not seem to bother him," McCallie said. Its familiarity with people leads some to believe it had been raised as a pet.

But no one really knows for sure.

"We don't know who it belongs to, if it even belongs to anyone," said Lt. M.J. Warner of the Roanoke County Police Department.

The Mill Mountain Zoo said it no longer keeps peacocks.

"All our animals are present and accounted for," said David Jobe, an educational curator at the zoo.

Marshall Mundy, a Roanoke lawyer, said three pet peafowl - two peacocks and one peahen - escaped from his yard about three weeks ago. He lives on Virginia 419, and less than a mile from Lakemont Drive.

Mundy, though, could not say for certain whether the peacock belongs to him because the bird lacks any distinctive marks. He also said several of his neighbors also owned peacocks.

"I just don't know how I would go about searching for one. I'd think they would be difficult to catch unless cornered," Mundy said. "I hope he is not bothering anyone."

The police department received the first call about the bird several weeks ago from a driver who saw it strolling down Virginia 419. Police officers were dispatched to the area but the bird was gone by the time they arrived.

Other callers have reported seeing it around the Lakemont Drive area where the bird seems to have made his home.

A majority of the calls come from concerned residents who fear the bird might become a traffic hazard, Warner said. But the bird's appearances on the road are at best spotty, and animal control officers have yet to arrive in time to catch the bird.

"It's not like getting a cow or bull out of the road," Warner said. "Peacocks usually scare easily. By the time we get there, they are long gone."

The police department is not actively pursuing the bird's capture. Legally, peacocks are treated the same as other small game birds; they are permitted to roam freely as long as they do not cause a disturbance.

"Unless it is a nuisance or causing traffic problems, we don't want to take the animal out of its natural habitat," Warner said.

In fact, it is not uncommon to find domesticated peacocks loose in the wild. Often farmers will raise the exotic birds as ornamental pets, he said. Occasionally, the birds escape, possibly by flying over the fence, and wander about town in search of food and shelter.

Mill Mountain Zoo frequently gets calls about missing peacocks, as well as other ostrich-like birds sometimes raised on farms, such as emus and rheas.

"Many people remember us having peacocks from their childhood and just assume the birds are ours," Jobe said.

Native to China and Southeast Asia, the regal, indigo-colored bird trailed by a canopy of luminescent green and violet feathers, is not overtly aggressive, despite its shrill cry and intimidating size, and tends to have few predators, Jobe said.

Rather, they are foragers and will stay in areas where food is plentiful. Usually, they feast on insects, but will also eat fruits and vegetables.

"As long as they are being fed, it is unlikely they will move on," Jobe said.