By Carol Tannenhauser
When the director of the esteemed Wild Bird Fund (WBF), a nonprofit wildlife hospital and education center on the Upper West Side, and an evolutionary biologist who studies birds comment on your post about pigeons, you pay attention.
In my first three Pigeons columns, I was fooling around, creating a fantasized, personified pigeon saga with no substantiation. Take my gender assignments, made mostly on the basis of appearance. The pigeon I deemed female and dubbed “Pat” is rounder, softer-looking, and dressed in fluorescent colors. I figured “her” fierce and vocal defense of their home, on a small terrace off my living room, connoted the pigeon equivalent of a tiger mom (minus the cubs.) “Pete,” as I called the other pigeon, is monochromatic, monosyllabic, and flies the coop each morning. I pegged “him” for a guy.
Both of the above-mentioned commenters, who know pigeons very well, pointed out that behavior is more of a giveaway than appearance. “Just wondering how you can tell that ‘Pat’ is not ‘Pete’?” asked Julia Zichello, the evolutionary biologist, who has written several fascinating stories for the Rag. “The males typically defend territories more often and are more vocal with cooing – but maybe you have some other clues?”
“I was about to write you with the same gender advice,” commented Rita McMahon, director of the WBF. “Thank you very much for sharing your love of New York’s finest wildlife ambassador.”
Next week we’ll explore how and why pigeons got the unfortunate monicker of “flying rats.”
Okay, so Pat is Pete, defender of their domain, with a coo like a car alarm. Here he is triumphant.
I honestly don’t understand the fighting. This morning, after their flapping brouhaha yesterday, I saw the two combatants stroll out from under the table together, as if nothing ever happened!
What is going on under the table? I’m giving Pete the benefit of the doubt as I’ve learned that pigeons are monogamous and mate for life. And to my friend who wants to know “why we never see baby pigeons,” here’s your answer, according to Birds&Blooms:
“Baby pigeons spend a relatively long time in the nest, as much as four to five weeks. When they’re finally ready to fledge, they look just like adult pigeons. That’s why it’s rare to see a baby pigeon in the wild — by the time they leave the nest, they’re indistinguishable from their parents.”
Now she wants to know “why we never see pigeon nests”!
I’d like to take a closer look under the table and see if there is a nest and sweep up the terrace, but I have yet to step outside. It’s not the diseases that pigeons allegedly carry that deter me, or even the mites. (I’d wear a mask and gloves.) It’s that I’ve never known a bird before — except for a long-ago parakeet named Frisky who was domesticated and in a cage. My pigeons are wild and free and they can fight! What if they attack me?
I am becoming increasingly preoccupied with the pigeons. Advice anyone?
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Attack you?!?! If you crumble up some nuts, and show them how good they are by throwing some on the ground, they’ll gladly jump up onto your arm, and eventually (within 10 m) come and sit in your hand. If they sense you like them, they’ll like you back. Good luck with your mixed feelings;)
P.S. Be careful about letting other humans know about your affinity for pigeons. Some folks don’t even believe they’re birds. Odd.
Just a word to the wise from a fellow urban wildlife lover … We had a nest of pigeons on our bedroom window ledge years ago, I was delighted. Until the bird mites invaded our bedroom and covered every surface, unfortunately. It was a big cleanup job. Keep an eye out.
Exactly! So why do these urban birds seem to prefer man made structures?
While I was on vacation, a pair of pigeons built a nest on my 10th floor terrace. It was about 12″ across, built of sticks and in the middle were 2 eggs. I was ready to leave it and watch the process, until I read that when the eggs hatch, the babies stay in the nest until fully grown and are extremely messy. I had the nest and eggs removed. The pair came back a few times, wandering all over my terrace looking for their nest and eggs. I felt guilty, becasue even though I believe in a women’s right to choose, Ms. Pigeon didn’t get to make that choice. I did.
I did that several times and finally netted the balcony to stop them building nests. Not on my balcony thank you.
Lou Reed: Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she