An escaped peacock that sparked a neighbourhood search in the city’s west end Friday remains at large.

The peacock caused a flutter of activity both on social media and in person after the creature was spotted roaming about homes between Roncesvalles Avenue and High Park.

Several people took to social media Friday to say they had spotted the bird on rooftops in the area.

“Living the high life #torontopeacock,” Twitter user Iain Mc wrote on his page, posting a photo of the colourful bird perched on a rooftop.

Video posted to YouTube showed the creature strutting about and hopping from one rooftop to another.

“We tracked it for a while and we followed it out to Roncessvales there,” another area resident, Rebecca Davies, told CP24.

She said neighbours were trying to keep the bird from making its way onto busy Roncesvalles Avenue, but the bird ventured that way anyhow and crossed to the east side of the street.

According to Toronto Animal Services, the peacock escaped from the High Park Zoo, where there is a peacock enclosure.

Officials said they weren’t sure when the peacock escaped. They received a report of a sighting Thursday night, but the bird was gone by the time they arrived.

The bird was finally spotted again by Parkdale residents on the roof of a home on MacDonell Avenue, north of Queen Street West, around 4:30 p.m. Friday.

City staff were then called in to come retrieve the peacock from the rooftop, about three kilometres away from the zoo the bird escaped from.

Crews, however, were unable to capture the bird, and called off efforts for the night shortly after 8 p.m. The peacock was last seen in a tree in the neighbourhood.

News of the loose peacock quickly spread on social media Friday, especially on Twitter where the term “High Park” was trending in Toronto.

Within hours of the news, a fake Twitter account had also sprung up online for the missing peacock. Toronto police even got in on the action, tweeting that “Police suspect fowl play,” in the case.

Earlier the city advised people not to approach or feed the bird if spotted.

@Josh_F is on Twitter. Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.