They recognized me in a different spot!

[Garye]

Today I was forced to park somewhere far away from where I usually park when I go to visit the pigeons. And can you believe this - they recognized my car and came over. Now my car looks like a lot of other cars out there that usually park in this parking lot and these birds were still able to find me even when I parked in a totally different spot way away from where I usually park.

I had to change spots because there was a maintenance crew working where I usually park. One of the workers was watching as all of a sudden these pigeons came flying over to where I was. He seemed amazed by it all. I, on the other hand, was laughing that they somehow knew it was me even though we had never "parked" in this new spot before.

They really are clever birds. I can't figure out how they knew it was me. There were other cars that looked exactly like mine but they knew to fly over to my car.

[TAWhatley]

They not only know your vehicle, but you .. the most important component! "My" birds at the duck pond know it's me regardless of what I'm driving .. sometimes it's the old black Ford Aerostar van, sometimes the little maroon Mazda pickup, and sometimes my ancient Mustang .. also doesn't matter where I park .. as soon as they see me, it's a "wave" of ducks, coots, wigeons, pigeons, geese, and whatever else is there that day.

I suppose it doesn't hurt to be carrying that "suspicious" but yummy looking load of seed and other treats <LOL>!

Terry

[feralpigeon]

I had to borrow a neighbor's car, and they recognized me anyway while I was
still driving up. They know my face. No other explanation, as my visits @ that
location are sporadic. At one location, I was on a roof and looked over the edge into a "courtyard area" from 5 stories, and made a sound to a mated couple and one of them looked @ me and flew instantly right up to me. The
other was watching the nest. They are very people smart. I am always
amazed.

fp

[Poulette]

They are just fantastic! Same thing happens to me when I walk in the streets. Sometimes a pigeon follows me, he must be one of the members of my 2 flocks I feed every morning. I can recognise a good number of them, but not each one. But all of them recognise me!
Suz.

[pdpbison]

Yes, same here...

Those of the Wild Flock who I feed all the time, no matter if I am in a suit or work clothes, or what car I may be in or getting dropped back here out of from being out with a friend, or, if they see me a hundred yards away at the 7-11 ( in which case they fly-follow me home) they know it is me.

Phil

[Garye]

How in the world do they know it? I can't figure it out unless they have such good eyesight that they can see people through car windows and instantaneously recall a picture of a person they know when that person appears within view no matter in what vehicle, clothing, or place they are. They are just so amazing.

I purposely parked in the parking lot between cars that looked like mine in a crowded space (just to test them) and they were still able to distinguish my car from all the other cars even though I parked right in the middle of the parking lot next to similar looking cars. Two came right over and looked at me wondering if since I was in a different spot than I normally parked, whether or not I was going to give them something here instead of the normal spot. (They looked at me as if to say, "Oh there you are. Aren't you going to give us something to eat now?") I decided not to because my car was surrounded by too many cars so I moved over to the familiar spot and then they all came...

They are just too clever for their own good.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Gayre,

Pigeons do in fact have EXTRAORDINARY vision. They have excellent memories as well. There have been tests done on them and they can pick out the slightest differences in works of art. So they can easily distinguish you from someone else. They can probably also see you through the glass of your car like you mentioned amoung other visual cues

[feralpigeon]

Hi Garye,

Don't know if you caught this article from a previous thread, but the intelligence described in it is amazing.

http://starlingchat.com/forums/viewtopic.2093.html

Also, I remember seeing a documentary on some kind of African parrot I think it was, and they had developed a series of tests to assess it's intelligence with differently colored geometric shapes. Then they mixed and matched asking questions like which item was different, which ones were the same, etc. It always got the answer right! Then at the end of the test, they tried to trick the bird and put 3 objects on the tray that were of the same in kind and color asking "What is different now?" The bird looked at the tray and cocked it's head to one side "Why, nothing--there all the same."

Pretty amazing,

fp

[Poulette]

This is Alex, Dr. Irene Pepperberg's African Grey with an exceptionnal mind!

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~dbs/ifmud/alex.html

http://www.alexfoundation.org/

Suz.

[feralpigeon]

Hi Poulette,
Yes, that is the one I was referring to, thanks...
fp