The little gray bird that colors our
world
At the end of my last two columns, I’ve mentioned that I am a pigeon rescuer. Many people find wild pigeons distasteful, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to describe pigeons and explain why I love these wonderful critters.
The first pigeon accidentally bumbled into my life on Labor Day weekend, 2001. My husband noticed that our hounds were intrigued by something under our pickup. Investigating closer, I discovered a terrified pigeon that fled from under the vehicle and blundered across the street, barely able to fly. Catching him easily, I placed him in a cat carrier for safety, food and water. I figured I’d take him to a vet on Monday, and that would be that. Meanwhile, I noticed his vision was poor, and he insisted on flying backwards.
Monday came and the bird and I went to the veterinarian’s. She quickly diagnosed iridoplegia, the paralysis of his pupils. One is permanently contracted, and the other dilated, causing very poor depth perception. One can imagine how difficult it is for a bird to fly if he can’t judge distances. Now I understood why the poor dear insisted on flying backwards – he’d had enough of slamming into things beak-first! Well, it was obvious that I had to give him a permanent home. That was OK, though, because by then we’d fallen in love with each other. That is how I came to live with Hootie and become a pigeon rescuer. I have since saved quite a few others, including two blind and one lame pigeon (she chose to stay). Their stories are another column: every animal has a biography, after all, and my little friends certainly have tales to tell!
Before Hootie, I’d never given much thought to pigeons. Hootie and his friends have opened my eyes to their fascinating, feathery world. Did you know that, ubiquitous as they are, the typical city pigeon is not native to North America? Only the now-extinct Passenger Pigeon was native born. The pigeons we see now are actually European Rock Doves (Columbia Livia), and they were brought over by the original colonists to serve as both food and message carriers.
Pigeons are incredibly intelligent. Like laboratory rats, they are used in psychology experiments. They don’t run mazes, though. Instead, they have been taught other amazing skills, like how to tell the difference between impressionist and cubist paintings. In exchange for a treat, trained pigeons will distinguish a Monet from a Picasso. Such intelligence isn’t surprising, since pigeons are related to parrots. Like those colorful, ingenious birds, pigeons can see in color, which is helpful for an art critic. Also like parrots, pigeons have ceres, the fleshy part of the beak where the nostrils are located. In pigeons, it turns white between four and six weeks of age. That’s how you’ll know when you’ve met a juvenile – his cere won’t be white.
Pigeons are very devoted and loving. They usually mate for life, and have been known to grieve to death after the loss of a mate. Usually, though, most pigeons will take a new mate within three days to a week. This is because a lone pigeon’s chances of survival are very poor (“I loved you, dear, but life must go on.”) Hootie apparently thinks I’m his mate. He never shows interest in any of the other pigeons I have rescued. He likes them well enough as pals; he just doesn’t want to “marry” one.
Once mated, babies aren’t far behind, and the proud parents feed them crop milk. Though not technically “milk”, it does have an ingredient related to lactose. After only about 18 days, the young begin eating an adult diet of seeds, grains, legumes and water. Pigeons are one of the few species of birds that can suck up water through their beaks, like a straw. Most other birds have to dip their beaks into water, then tilt their heads back to swallow it.
There is so much more to these birds than most people ever realize. I never knew how fascinating and special they were until I met Hootie. I thank God every day for sending me such a wonderful, loving friend.
If you are looking for a wonderful friend, but don’t think a pigeon would fit the bill, perhaps you’ll find your special companion at Basset Rescue of Montana. Bassets may not be pigeons, but they are certainly wonderful and loving! To see the adoptable bassets, and read their stories, please visit the Basset Rescue website at: http://bassetrescueofmontana.org/available.html, or call Leslie Ames at (406) 207-0765.
Kathleen Galayda is a devoted animal lover, pigeon rescuer and freelance writer living in Missoula, Montana. She can be contacted via email at: poot1e@msn.com.