My celebration of the Pigeon and other fancy facts!

Let me take you back in time to a cold, wet summer day in 1985. I had not long turned 14 and was on holiday in south-west Scotland with my parents, brother and my best mate from school. This particular part of Scotland where we were holidaying was a small village named Leswalt, which lies between Portpatrick and Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway. With such poor weather and a lack of indoor attractions to keep us kids happy, we decided to drive a short distance up the coast to Corsewall Point to check out the impressive lighthouse, enjoy the crashing waves of the Atlantic and hopefully see some interesting birdlife.

The lighthouse was truly impressive and on better days we would have had views across from the cliffs to Ailsa Craig, a tiny volcanic isle which is a haven for sea birds. The thing that has stuck in my mind from this day is not the truly beautiful lighthouse or the many varied colours of granite rock but the only birds to be seen nestling amongst the cliffs were pigeons. Imagine my disappointment, being on holiday in a far-flung place (remember I was 14 and not well travelled!) and the only bird spotting to be had was something that I could see every day back home.

It wasn’t until sometime later that I was flicking through my Mitchell Beazley Birdwatcher’s Pocket Guide, a gift for my 12th birthday, which is still in my bookcase, that I realised that the birds that I had seen were not just your everyday pigeon but in fact Rock Doves, the ancestor of all domestic pigeons. And so, the love affair began.

Many (I hope) of you reading this will be thinking I must be out of my mind, celebrating the humble pigeon, indeed going as far as describing my fascination of this bird as a love affair. My aim, at the end of this blog is to hopefully turn those of you who are pigeon haters into pigeon fanciers. Let’s be honest, pigeons don’t enjoy a great press, which ones of you are guilty of referring to them as flying rats or gutter birds.

As the years went by, the more facts I found out about the Rock Dove and more generally pigeons and doves, the more I became fascinated and realised how much these birds are misunderstood and actually how magnificent they are.

The Rock Dove, once common throughout the British Isles, is now only found on the coasts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, preferring rocky sites and cliffs in remote areas. As I mentioned earlier the Rock Dove is the ancestor of all domesticated and feral pigeons, many being domesticated for food but soon becoming a common sight in our towns and cities, preferring man made cliffs that are town centre buildings and the warmth and shelter they provide, not forgetting the abundance of food on offer all around. The rest the say is history.

There lies the problem many folk have with pigeons, the fear of being crapped on whilst out shopping, trying to have your lunch in peace on a park bench without a dozen or so hungry faces eyeing up your pasty or the unfortunate sight of seeing a flattened one on a busy road. Have you ever stopped for a moment though to admire the beautiful plumage of a pigeon, many of which still bear the markings of their original ancestors, the more varied patterned birds probably being as a result of interbreeding between domestic and feral birds. The colours on a pigeon are a joy to behold, especially when the sun catches the sheen on the feathers. Many of you I assume will probably have not even noticed as your eyes cannot unsee the missing foot or remove the negative images associated with pigeons from your mind. Pigeons, like so many other living things that share the planet with us, have fallen foul to the mess that is the world we have created and many of the things people dislike in a pigeon are simply down to us humans I am afraid. Pigeons simply want to eat, shit, sleep and breed but human interference makes this somewhat challenging for them. Next time you look at a pigeon and think to yourself ‘urgh, a flying rat!’ consider the fact that the poor bird probably has no foot as a result of netting or spikes installed to keep pigeons off buildings, they crowd town centres because of all the litter people discard, overflowing bins, food wastage and don’t forget those who actually encourage the birds by feeding them and throwing them scraps. There is no evidence that pigeons spread diseases and they are actually a very clean animal.

The pigeon, in my mind should be revered, just like the ancient Eqyptians did, and look how clever they were! They should be loved and not considered to be vermin or a pest.

Let’s look at some amazing facts about this bird, some you may know already and some that may surprise you, either way, I hope they may make you sit back and think, actually it’s not the dirty, unremarkable bird you may think.

Pigeons are monogamous!

No one does love like a pigeon. Pigeons pair for life, after an initial period of courtship and nest building, they live out their lives together.

Pigeons are skilled navigationalists.

Amazingly, pigeons have the ability to find their way back home from as far as over a 1000 miles away. They can even do this when they are unable to see or hear where they were taken or which direction they were transported. Scientists recently reported that brainstem cells associated with the inner ear are activated when a pigeon is exposed to magnetic fields, meaning the brain cells signal the direction, intensity and polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field. That is why pigeons proved so vital to the war effort in both world wars, as they could transport messages from the front line to their home coop, where army personnel would be alerted upon the pigeon arriving back and the message cannister was removed from the pigeon. Many of these special birds flew dangerous missions and many were awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

Pigeons have excellent hearing.

They can detect sounds at much lower frequencies than us, which contributes to their excellent navigational skills.

PIGEON PIN UPS

Take a look at these beauties and surely you must agree what beautiful plumage they have.

Turtle Dove Stock Dove

Collared Dove Wood Pigeon

VERDICT?

Maybe you have learnt something new from reading this, maybe not but I hope by reading this it has made you pause and think, just for a moment and realise that there is more than meets the eye to these remarkable birds. It would make me a happy guy if I thought that the majority of you reading this could class themselves as pigeon fanciers as opposed to pigeon haters.

Look out for my next post, I am new to this blog lark so I will go for the more bite size edition next time. It will be another subject close to my heart and in a nutshell, something I just want to share my love and passion for nature with you all.