Oh my Betsy.... This brought back some interesting memories... I can identify with this... I will not call names but I used to work in a very beautiful 17 acre plant with beautiful rock construction, and slate roofing materials and rolling land..... One of the highlights for me was.. after I accidentally found out how to climb a tower wall and enter into a trap floor I was able to enter the bell tower filled with gigantic and rare chiming bells.. Now here's the irony and here's your story... Once up in the private large bellroom you could see everywhere because the walls were open... the bells were magnificent.... but the floor was covered with pigeon poop.... What irony!! Every time I ventured there which was quite often I laughed louder and louder.... Pigeons found a way.... to decorate even the most lavish of musical towers... with a floor covering with poop donations..... I'm still smiling...
A lovely part of your story, and one I'm charmed to learn. Did any of the birds ever join you in your highness? ☺️ That must have been some view, Barry, and a welcomed perspective changer. I'm glad you made the discovery.
I enjoy the cluck and coo of pigeons. Years ago n Florence, while waiting in line outside the Uffizi one unseasonably cold afternoon, I watched a one-legged pigeon hop up and down to the shared delight of us all. No doubt the bird was hoping for crumbs, yet it seemed aware of its power to charm. I felt we were all in conversation, the pigeon and the people who spoke many languages. I’ve forgotten what I saw at the Uffizi, but not that saucy pigeon.
While tragic that many of our city birds lose toes and feet from entangled hair and string ("string foot," it's called) it does appear that many go on to live reasonably good lives. And I'm certain you are right about being in conversation, the pigeon working all the angles. I was thrilled to learn that they can recognize faces, distinguishing between humans who are kind to them versus those who are not, even when clothing colors and styles are the same. Saucy is the best word! Thanks Rona.
I've never personally give a lot of thought to pigeons. But I have have always enjoyed photographing them when I have my camera and they are around. I love the variety of colors and the way they change depending on the light. I also like the way they sometime look a little bit evil or angry in photographs ... even though I know they're not.
Hi Todd! Thanks for subscribing and for joining the conversation. I'm delighted you enjoyed this deep pigeon dive. Seems my inner nerd needed to be heard this week. ☺️ Pigeons are so ubiquitous that they're rather easy to overlook, so yay for you and your camera! I agree, those shifting colors are fascinating. As for their evil-eyed look: For this piece, I deliberately went with images that cast them in the best light, but I saw plenty of examples of that angry-bird face. Too funny!
Your stats on cow poo seem a little high but hard to prove. (I’ve lived on farms over the years and yes, there’s plenty of splats but seems incredible to think that much per cow per day.) And as a rural person, I love pigeons. Their coos give me great joy. Definitely not a lot around in my part of the world, although I know they cause fascinating graffiti in cities. Nice story. Thanks.
I love knowing that you've got farm living in your repertoire. Of course we know that cows come in different sizes, but I checked out a handful of sources before going with the one I linked. They all more or less come in at a similar average, and it seems lactating cows are even higher. Astonishing! (https://extension.usu.edu/smallfarms/files/How_Much_Manure.pdf)
I had no idea pigeons were once processed as a food source. Ewww. I guess I have heard of squab. But still, ewww. As a long-time city dweller .... it's a tough one. And those respiratory diseases do exist, but I get your argument... we may or may not know someone. I find it staggering, really, that pigeons potentially outnumber humans in NYC (where the "Dinosaur" statue is). That's a pretty fascinating reality, and I see other sources with other, lower, numbers, but the CNN report does suggest that there are more pigeons. Wow. The iridescence is pretty, yes, and the list of their intellectual prowess is very interesting. While "bigger" than some of the other birds that have a really poor rap in cities, they are certainly not the only ones.
As for comparative droppings....geese, geese, geese....
Thanks for an interesting read. Can't say I'm thrilled that I felt compelled to look up rodent populations and top cities for rodents. But I did. This is how we benchmark what we think and what we know ;)
Hahahah! 🐀 You are too funny with your expanded investigation on rodent populations. You'll have to tell us what you discovered (or share a link).
As with so many deep dives, it can be hard to sift through the material carefully enough to unearth the contradictions. And I find that many sources repeat what was published elsewhere. The park commissioner's comment, for instance (so derogatory, I am reluctant to use it again) has quite a few variants out there, so I can only imagine how numbers get translated. The disease-carrying part was tricky. Like you, I know respiratory illnesses from pigeons, and many other birds, are real and do infect people from time to time, mostly those who are severely immune compromised or who are handling them in ways the average city dweller would not. But it's much more rare than the rhetoric would have us believe.
Geese! Omigosh, yes. Poop machines, those things.
Enjoyed your many reflections here, Amy. Fun to keep digging in on a topic I just immersed myself in so completely.
I've introduced you and Substack to Herman, the Japanese Racing Pidgeon that landed on our vessel in the southern Bahamas and stayed for 3 weeks....SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE...
We quickly learned and he quickly earned all the respect due, as you speak of here. Most animals, IMO are far more complex than we choose or want to believe....
Well researched Elizabeth!! I learned much more than I knew.... thanks.
I love pigeons, both wild and feral, and bush doves and any other type of bird you want to mention. There are a few down the scale of course, but generally, they are the choristers of our earthly life and for that I owe them.
I have an issue with feral cats (cats that people are responsible for by not neutering their pets and/or dumping kittens in the country) and with the horrendous rabbit population. The cats kill our lambs, our chooks, our native birds and are wild fighting creatures, bringing toxoplasmosis onto our farms. The rabbits just eat everything green, wretched things.
But the point is, it's Man that's at fault. Our early settlers brought rabbits and cats to Australia, along with pigeons, starlings, sparrows and anything else that might make Australia look more like Britain. I find it really difficult to eradicate a pest, even humanely, when they are living, breathing and sentient. Moral dilemma...
Oh, Prue -- I wanted to find a way to weave in Australia's feral cats and rabbits. They fit so perfectly (and painfully) into the themes here. Having owned five cats across many years, the first two originating from a feral colony, I have first-hand understanding of the kinds of havoc cats can wreak. To have them roaming wild in vast numbers, though? Well, it's impossible to get my head around the carnage.
And yes, all our fault. There is no good solution, but like you I struggle to believe aggressive responses are the right way to go. Lack of respect breeds a kind of contempt we cannot afford to nurture.
When I was a young bride (and human) and had just moved to West Virginia, my then father-in-law often told the tale of how a certain snake had been brought into an area to take care of a certain rodent problem and then the wild boars to take care of the snake problem. And now there were way too many wild boars. And what do you bring in to take care of them?
I don’t know for sure if the details were true, but the point, as you so aptly point out here, is. We make such a mess of things, thinking we’re the boss.
Love your defense of the pigeons, which I think are pretty birds. It’s also wild how something like “rodents with wings” comments can fly from ear to ear. I remember hearing it and even saying it when I was a kid. We’re quite adept at regurgitation, eh?
Thanks for this lovely post, Elizabeth! May we come to think in new ways.
Holly, whether that story is entirely true or not is of no consequence. It is representative. I wish I had answers for how to undo what we've done. But in the absence of that, I have to go on believing that it is incumbent upon us to continue to try, and to care enough about the creature-disasters we created to do so with as much tenderness as we can muster.
Oh Elizabeth, this is a beautiful and absolutely fascinating post - I've learned so much about pigeons! Thank you for sticking up for them. When I lived in London and took visiting friends to see the sights we'd always go and feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
We have a pair of wood pigeons frequenting our garden, and they're so funny. The other birds bathe properly in the water baths, but the pigeons sit in the baths and sort of roll themselves around in it, then sit there for ages at a 45° angle, one wing in the air, the other underwater, sometimes sticking a leg up too for good measure. Sometimes they're joined by a third, and have a little chase around the camellia - two of them, maybe, while the other one watches, or sometimes all three. They never work out that they're always equidistant from each other - nobody ever catches anybody else up. They're such characters!
Much smaller and sleeker are the collared doves - now, they're sweet and innocent to look at, oh yes, but there's one which we call 'Killer' - an utter menace who will try to take on anything it feels to be a threat - including pigeons, magpies and jackdaws.
Rebecca, your descriptions of your various garden birds are alive and delightful! We don't have either of those species here. The closest, for us, is the mourning dove. If Jim is willing, maybe he can photograph your funny pair, and/or your menace. Or you can sketch them!
So appreciate seeing these friends through your eyes, Rebecca, and I'm truly honored to know you enjoyed this piece. My nerdiness really got going, didn't it? 😅
This post is anything but nerdy, Elizabeth - it’s fascinating and adorable all at once!
I’ve just looked up the mourning dove, and it’s so pretty! Very similar, in fact, to our collared dove, but collared doves don’t have that lovely pattern on their wings, and they’ve got a narrow black ‘collar’ marking around their necks. They’re much smaller than pigeons.
Last summer we had a pair of stock doves - I call them ‘polite pigeons’. They’re a little smaller and cuter than our wood pigeons, but look very similar at first glance, and are distinguishable from the woodies by not having any white on their necks.
‘Town’ pigeons - they’ve probably got a better name than that - are big and brash and don’t have white necks like the wood pigeons. The iridescence on their necks is beautiful.
Your pigeons and doves are the in-between of our mourning doves. They're all beautiful. 'Town' pigeons are, I think, what we call city pigeons, the subject of this essay, the ones descended from once-wild rock doves. Does that sound right to you?
All this focus on pigeons and doves has reminded me that my father used to hunt them, so it was not unheard of for us to have a meal of the little birds, often with bits of shot still in them that threatened to break our teeth! I'd say that it feels wrong to have eaten something so endearingly beautiful, but since I also consume other types of meat, I can't really go there.
And...this conversation might have just taken an unexpected turn. LOL!
Well, I remember eating pigeon pie as a child. Never broke my teeth on any shot, thank goodness! Last time I came across shot - it was years ago, in a pheasant stew - I couldn’t remember the name so I called it a bullet. #embarrassing.
I live in the country Berwicks of Maine, half mile in off the delightful end of a gravel road. There is a Railroad track 45 feet that runs alongside our home. In winter we feed many backyard birds. This year we have seen conventions of doves—the pigeon cousin—under our feeders that start convening before the sun is even thinking of topping the horizon. Brave little souls as I think of all the predators about at that time of morning. But we love them! I consider them my little Hoovers as they go about vacuuming up what all the other birds fling from the feeders in search of that one particular just right seed.
This year there are way more of the doves than we’ve ever had before, and we’ve lived here 25 years.
Could it be the lack of many inches of snow the past three years especially?
Oh and whenever a train goes by, all the birds fly away as it rumbles past—except the doves. They have adapted.
What a deep dive into pigeons! A bird I've never given much thought to. I'm realizing that (I think?) we don't have many in the few places I've lived. (I am more accustomed to watching out for seagull poop.) My only specific memory of pigeons stems from a visit to St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, which was teeming with them. My children (age 7, I think) were fascinated and wanted to feed and pet them, but the sheer number of the birds put me off (thanks, Hitchcock). I am so sorry about your lunch, but what a great example this essay is of turning lemons into lemonade.
Because of our bygone chicken-keeping days, and our former pet cockatiel, I am very aware that many people are uncomfortable around birds -- even one at a time. So, I hear you on being put off. You're definitely not alone in the seagull camp either, and I actually think they can be more aggressive than pigeons (don't have firsthand knowledge, thankfully).
I mentioned in a Note that this essay kind of came up despite my awareness that it might not be a favorite topic. I knew I was going to do a followup pigeon piece after I wrote the one about our Pidge, but there was so much more to know than I anticipated, and the story was so sad. I couldn't walk away from it.
Anyway, I'm getting wordy again. Ha! Thanks for diving in with me, Rita. It means a lot.
I loved listening to you sing the praises of pigeons! I’m onboard and ready to behold the golden poop splat. I now wait for your audio versions because I love having you tell me a story…it’s old school joy ❤️
Ah, you're good for what ails me, Eileen (otherwise known as second-guessing). Thank you! As an audiobook fan, I'm extra glad the voiceovers are of value to you. Hope all is well in your world today. As well as can be, on the eve of a dreadful ceremony.
Oh my Betsy.... This brought back some interesting memories... I can identify with this... I will not call names but I used to work in a very beautiful 17 acre plant with beautiful rock construction, and slate roofing materials and rolling land..... One of the highlights for me was.. after I accidentally found out how to climb a tower wall and enter into a trap floor I was able to enter the bell tower filled with gigantic and rare chiming bells.. Now here's the irony and here's your story... Once up in the private large bellroom you could see everywhere because the walls were open... the bells were magnificent.... but the floor was covered with pigeon poop.... What irony!! Every time I ventured there which was quite often I laughed louder and louder.... Pigeons found a way.... to decorate even the most lavish of musical towers... with a floor covering with poop donations..... I'm still smiling...
A lovely part of your story, and one I'm charmed to learn. Did any of the birds ever join you in your highness? ☺️ That must have been some view, Barry, and a welcomed perspective changer. I'm glad you made the discovery.
I enjoy the cluck and coo of pigeons. Years ago n Florence, while waiting in line outside the Uffizi one unseasonably cold afternoon, I watched a one-legged pigeon hop up and down to the shared delight of us all. No doubt the bird was hoping for crumbs, yet it seemed aware of its power to charm. I felt we were all in conversation, the pigeon and the people who spoke many languages. I’ve forgotten what I saw at the Uffizi, but not that saucy pigeon.
While tragic that many of our city birds lose toes and feet from entangled hair and string ("string foot," it's called) it does appear that many go on to live reasonably good lives. And I'm certain you are right about being in conversation, the pigeon working all the angles. I was thrilled to learn that they can recognize faces, distinguishing between humans who are kind to them versus those who are not, even when clothing colors and styles are the same. Saucy is the best word! Thanks Rona.
Thank you, that was a really interesting read.
I've never personally give a lot of thought to pigeons. But I have have always enjoyed photographing them when I have my camera and they are around. I love the variety of colors and the way they change depending on the light. I also like the way they sometime look a little bit evil or angry in photographs ... even though I know they're not.
Hi Todd! Thanks for subscribing and for joining the conversation. I'm delighted you enjoyed this deep pigeon dive. Seems my inner nerd needed to be heard this week. ☺️ Pigeons are so ubiquitous that they're rather easy to overlook, so yay for you and your camera! I agree, those shifting colors are fascinating. As for their evil-eyed look: For this piece, I deliberately went with images that cast them in the best light, but I saw plenty of examples of that angry-bird face. Too funny!
Your stats on cow poo seem a little high but hard to prove. (I’ve lived on farms over the years and yes, there’s plenty of splats but seems incredible to think that much per cow per day.) And as a rural person, I love pigeons. Their coos give me great joy. Definitely not a lot around in my part of the world, although I know they cause fascinating graffiti in cities. Nice story. Thanks.
I love knowing that you've got farm living in your repertoire. Of course we know that cows come in different sizes, but I checked out a handful of sources before going with the one I linked. They all more or less come in at a similar average, and it seems lactating cows are even higher. Astonishing! (https://extension.usu.edu/smallfarms/files/How_Much_Manure.pdf)
Thanks for adding your thoughts today.
I had no idea pigeons were once processed as a food source. Ewww. I guess I have heard of squab. But still, ewww. As a long-time city dweller .... it's a tough one. And those respiratory diseases do exist, but I get your argument... we may or may not know someone. I find it staggering, really, that pigeons potentially outnumber humans in NYC (where the "Dinosaur" statue is). That's a pretty fascinating reality, and I see other sources with other, lower, numbers, but the CNN report does suggest that there are more pigeons. Wow. The iridescence is pretty, yes, and the list of their intellectual prowess is very interesting. While "bigger" than some of the other birds that have a really poor rap in cities, they are certainly not the only ones.
As for comparative droppings....geese, geese, geese....
Thanks for an interesting read. Can't say I'm thrilled that I felt compelled to look up rodent populations and top cities for rodents. But I did. This is how we benchmark what we think and what we know ;)
Hahahah! 🐀 You are too funny with your expanded investigation on rodent populations. You'll have to tell us what you discovered (or share a link).
As with so many deep dives, it can be hard to sift through the material carefully enough to unearth the contradictions. And I find that many sources repeat what was published elsewhere. The park commissioner's comment, for instance (so derogatory, I am reluctant to use it again) has quite a few variants out there, so I can only imagine how numbers get translated. The disease-carrying part was tricky. Like you, I know respiratory illnesses from pigeons, and many other birds, are real and do infect people from time to time, mostly those who are severely immune compromised or who are handling them in ways the average city dweller would not. But it's much more rare than the rhetoric would have us believe.
Geese! Omigosh, yes. Poop machines, those things.
Enjoyed your many reflections here, Amy. Fun to keep digging in on a topic I just immersed myself in so completely.
I've introduced you and Substack to Herman, the Japanese Racing Pidgeon that landed on our vessel in the southern Bahamas and stayed for 3 weeks....SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE...
We quickly learned and he quickly earned all the respect due, as you speak of here. Most animals, IMO are far more complex than we choose or want to believe....
Well researched Elizabeth!! I learned much more than I knew.... thanks.
Yes, yes, and yes, Janice.
Geez I spelled pigeon wrong. That's embarrassing!!
I love pigeons, both wild and feral, and bush doves and any other type of bird you want to mention. There are a few down the scale of course, but generally, they are the choristers of our earthly life and for that I owe them.
I have an issue with feral cats (cats that people are responsible for by not neutering their pets and/or dumping kittens in the country) and with the horrendous rabbit population. The cats kill our lambs, our chooks, our native birds and are wild fighting creatures, bringing toxoplasmosis onto our farms. The rabbits just eat everything green, wretched things.
But the point is, it's Man that's at fault. Our early settlers brought rabbits and cats to Australia, along with pigeons, starlings, sparrows and anything else that might make Australia look more like Britain. I find it really difficult to eradicate a pest, even humanely, when they are living, breathing and sentient. Moral dilemma...
Oh, Prue -- I wanted to find a way to weave in Australia's feral cats and rabbits. They fit so perfectly (and painfully) into the themes here. Having owned five cats across many years, the first two originating from a feral colony, I have first-hand understanding of the kinds of havoc cats can wreak. To have them roaming wild in vast numbers, though? Well, it's impossible to get my head around the carnage.
And yes, all our fault. There is no good solution, but like you I struggle to believe aggressive responses are the right way to go. Lack of respect breeds a kind of contempt we cannot afford to nurture.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, as always.
If one word could be used to describe the 21st century, it might just be contempt.
I'd prefer to think not, but...
When I was a young bride (and human) and had just moved to West Virginia, my then father-in-law often told the tale of how a certain snake had been brought into an area to take care of a certain rodent problem and then the wild boars to take care of the snake problem. And now there were way too many wild boars. And what do you bring in to take care of them?
I don’t know for sure if the details were true, but the point, as you so aptly point out here, is. We make such a mess of things, thinking we’re the boss.
Love your defense of the pigeons, which I think are pretty birds. It’s also wild how something like “rodents with wings” comments can fly from ear to ear. I remember hearing it and even saying it when I was a kid. We’re quite adept at regurgitation, eh?
Thanks for this lovely post, Elizabeth! May we come to think in new ways.
Holly, whether that story is entirely true or not is of no consequence. It is representative. I wish I had answers for how to undo what we've done. But in the absence of that, I have to go on believing that it is incumbent upon us to continue to try, and to care enough about the creature-disasters we created to do so with as much tenderness as we can muster.
New ways, indeed, my friend. Thank you.
🥰
Oh Elizabeth, this is a beautiful and absolutely fascinating post - I've learned so much about pigeons! Thank you for sticking up for them. When I lived in London and took visiting friends to see the sights we'd always go and feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
We have a pair of wood pigeons frequenting our garden, and they're so funny. The other birds bathe properly in the water baths, but the pigeons sit in the baths and sort of roll themselves around in it, then sit there for ages at a 45° angle, one wing in the air, the other underwater, sometimes sticking a leg up too for good measure. Sometimes they're joined by a third, and have a little chase around the camellia - two of them, maybe, while the other one watches, or sometimes all three. They never work out that they're always equidistant from each other - nobody ever catches anybody else up. They're such characters!
Much smaller and sleeker are the collared doves - now, they're sweet and innocent to look at, oh yes, but there's one which we call 'Killer' - an utter menace who will try to take on anything it feels to be a threat - including pigeons, magpies and jackdaws.
Rebecca, your descriptions of your various garden birds are alive and delightful! We don't have either of those species here. The closest, for us, is the mourning dove. If Jim is willing, maybe he can photograph your funny pair, and/or your menace. Or you can sketch them!
So appreciate seeing these friends through your eyes, Rebecca, and I'm truly honored to know you enjoyed this piece. My nerdiness really got going, didn't it? 😅
This post is anything but nerdy, Elizabeth - it’s fascinating and adorable all at once!
I’ve just looked up the mourning dove, and it’s so pretty! Very similar, in fact, to our collared dove, but collared doves don’t have that lovely pattern on their wings, and they’ve got a narrow black ‘collar’ marking around their necks. They’re much smaller than pigeons.
Last summer we had a pair of stock doves - I call them ‘polite pigeons’. They’re a little smaller and cuter than our wood pigeons, but look very similar at first glance, and are distinguishable from the woodies by not having any white on their necks.
‘Town’ pigeons - they’ve probably got a better name than that - are big and brash and don’t have white necks like the wood pigeons. The iridescence on their necks is beautiful.
Aw, thanks, Rebecca. That's reassuring!
Your pigeons and doves are the in-between of our mourning doves. They're all beautiful. 'Town' pigeons are, I think, what we call city pigeons, the subject of this essay, the ones descended from once-wild rock doves. Does that sound right to you?
All this focus on pigeons and doves has reminded me that my father used to hunt them, so it was not unheard of for us to have a meal of the little birds, often with bits of shot still in them that threatened to break our teeth! I'd say that it feels wrong to have eaten something so endearingly beautiful, but since I also consume other types of meat, I can't really go there.
And...this conversation might have just taken an unexpected turn. LOL!
Well, I remember eating pigeon pie as a child. Never broke my teeth on any shot, thank goodness! Last time I came across shot - it was years ago, in a pheasant stew - I couldn’t remember the name so I called it a bullet. #embarrassing.
LOVED your essay! 🫶🏼
I live in the country Berwicks of Maine, half mile in off the delightful end of a gravel road. There is a Railroad track 45 feet that runs alongside our home. In winter we feed many backyard birds. This year we have seen conventions of doves—the pigeon cousin—under our feeders that start convening before the sun is even thinking of topping the horizon. Brave little souls as I think of all the predators about at that time of morning. But we love them! I consider them my little Hoovers as they go about vacuuming up what all the other birds fling from the feeders in search of that one particular just right seed.
This year there are way more of the doves than we’ve ever had before, and we’ve lived here 25 years.
Could it be the lack of many inches of snow the past three years especially?
Oh and whenever a train goes by, all the birds fly away as it rumbles past—except the doves. They have adapted.
You post was informative and humorous. 🤗
What a deep dive into pigeons! A bird I've never given much thought to. I'm realizing that (I think?) we don't have many in the few places I've lived. (I am more accustomed to watching out for seagull poop.) My only specific memory of pigeons stems from a visit to St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, which was teeming with them. My children (age 7, I think) were fascinated and wanted to feed and pet them, but the sheer number of the birds put me off (thanks, Hitchcock). I am so sorry about your lunch, but what a great example this essay is of turning lemons into lemonade.
Because of our bygone chicken-keeping days, and our former pet cockatiel, I am very aware that many people are uncomfortable around birds -- even one at a time. So, I hear you on being put off. You're definitely not alone in the seagull camp either, and I actually think they can be more aggressive than pigeons (don't have firsthand knowledge, thankfully).
I mentioned in a Note that this essay kind of came up despite my awareness that it might not be a favorite topic. I knew I was going to do a followup pigeon piece after I wrote the one about our Pidge, but there was so much more to know than I anticipated, and the story was so sad. I couldn't walk away from it.
Anyway, I'm getting wordy again. Ha! Thanks for diving in with me, Rita. It means a lot.
I loved listening to you sing the praises of pigeons! I’m onboard and ready to behold the golden poop splat. I now wait for your audio versions because I love having you tell me a story…it’s old school joy ❤️
Ah, you're good for what ails me, Eileen (otherwise known as second-guessing). Thank you! As an audiobook fan, I'm extra glad the voiceovers are of value to you. Hope all is well in your world today. As well as can be, on the eve of a dreadful ceremony.
All is well. Tomorrow is MLK day. I have a dream. ❤️