feral questions

[StvMer]

Hi everyone.

I live in Chicago and try to help some of the neighborhood outside birds as much as I can, including pigeons. I'm probably in the minority among urban dwellers in that I think pigeons are terrific creations of God. But the plight of pigeons who live in a northern city saddens me. I fear they have a short and not very pleasant quality of life. I hope I'm wrong and at least some pigeons do live failrly long and happy lives - I suppose my first question is do (or can) they?
Secondly, I feed them peanuts and wheat bread crumbs and they seem to like that. Is that a good 'diet' for them? My third question is, where do they go at night? I look on building cliffs, under viaducts, and rarely see them there... My fourth question is, do 'couples' stay together? Finally, why don't pigeons fly to more hospitable areas (such as the lakefront) of the city? I heard they never stray more than a 6-8 block radius of where they are born and I don't understand that...

Five questions for the price of one email but I am genuinely curious and I hope my efforts (daily) are making a difference for at least the 2-3 dozen pigeons in my area. Thanks in advance for your help with my questions and for all the great work you do!

[Uppitycat]

Hey,
I am a novice but I have read quite a bit lately. Pigeons can live a fairly long life. 15 years or so. Raw peanuts are good, the salted ones are kind of bad. They like shelled non salted sunflower seeds and safflower seeds. I also wonder where they go at night. I have seen them under bridges and in soffit and facia of buildings. I could not tell you if they travel or why they don't go more then 8 blocks from their birth areas. Hmmm, Oh ya, they do mate for life.
I just adopted a pigeon with a broken wing. After five weeks the wing healed and the pigeon won't leave. Cool by me!!! She is really cool.
Peace
Robb

[John_D]

Hi,

Pigeons can live a good long time (like Robb said, 15 years, or even longer), but that is generally in captivity (domestic, pet or retired racing pigeons). The average life expectancy of a city feral living 'on the street' is not even two years. I am 'acquainted with' a very few ferals who, to my knowledge, must be at least 4 years old, but they are very much in a minority. Predators aside, pigeons in the less crowded and polluted suburban or semi-rural areas will usually do better than those in and around centers of large cities.

Yes, raw peanuts are good for pigeons. I get small wild bird peanuts rather than the bigger ones which are often used in wire or mesh feeders. Bread crumbs are OK as a bulk food, but not very nutritious for a seed eater. I get purpose-mixed pigeon feed (as given to racing pigeons), which contains a variety of grains (wheat, barley, yellow corn), dried peas, various beans, a selection of different seeds. This contains just about all the dietary requirements.

They will roost on, in or under most any man made construction which offers a degree of shelter. So yes, bridges, balconies, ledges, disused industrial buildings, behind chimney stacks, church towers....anywhere they can find something which 'feels like' the caves their wild ancestors roosted in.

They are reputed to pair for life, certainly.This is mostly so, though if a male pigeon sees an opportunity to carry on the 'family line' with another hen, he is quite likely to do so! Mating for life doesn't quite equate to fidelity, with pigeons

Pigeons are pretty firmly attached to their own patch. What does sometimes happen is that pigeons in smaller towns where there is cultivated land quite near will 'commute' to the fields to feed, then return to their town to roost (and nest). Basically, if there is a known source of food within a very few miles (maybe docks where grain is loaded and unloaded), pigeons may congregate from different areas to feed. Mostly, though, they don't like to roam far.

When pigeons fledge, they will usually follow the male parent around the immediate area for a week or two, when he will guide them to the best (or only!) feeding places. It is at this stage, too, that they are likely to become integrated with the local flock, and stay put. Pigeons are non-migratory birds, and this stay-at-home attitude mirrors that of wild Rock Doves. I've watched the wild RDs on a Scottish island, and they roost, nest, lounge about and feed all within a couple miles radius. Seems quite strange that pigeons have such an amazing inbuilt homing instinct, yet never have a need to use it in their natural environment!

John (UK)

[raynjudy]

You guys are the best!

Here's my take on feral pigeons...

They're at odds against damned near everything. They are ignored, tolerated, poisoned, left homeless, and outright murdered. It is their legacy in this place in space and time. And it is wrong--very, very wrong.

Feral pigeons persist for the gifts they've been given. They are resilient beyond ordinary imagination. Some of us believe that they are survived dinosauria--truly, the noblest of nobles. Yet, they are routinely disparaged.

Their past is steeped in proud and noble lore, as they're genuine heroes. They've gone the distance for causes that have saved human lives. They are icons of all that is prized and is good, and one hell of a lot more important than the latest boy-band or sports hero, hyped by the pabulum-media.

While I am an admirer of dogs, I would submit that the horse, the pigeon, the camel and the elephant, are truly 'man's best friends', by numerical criterion, with human-related bias polarizing the percentiles.

Pigeons were there. In every pivotal avenue of human history--they were there.

Beyond that, they are not even indigenous to our land--our ancestors brought them here; and for damned good reason!

Still, it seems we have forgotten.

I've said it before--we have people that will not be satisfied until the entire world is as paved and sterile, and polished as a new Lexus.

It would seem we are done with them--at least for now, by and large, in the USA.

By the bye, there once was a totally North American columbiforme--the Passenger Pigeon. John James Audubon had this to say:

*****

“Few pigeons were to be seen, but a great number of persons, with horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established encampments on the borders. [Farmers] had driven upwards of three hundred hogs to be fattened on the pigeons which were to be slaughtered…Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of ‘Here they come!’ The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea…As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole-men… It was a scene of uproar and confusion. Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard…Towards the approach of day…the authors of all this devastation began their entry amongst the dead, the dieing, and the mangled. The pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps, until each had as many as he could possibly dispose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed on the remainder.”

*****

That (the above) is a snippet of what was done. History records a sin against man and God--whatever you hold That to be.

Perhaps, maybe, in part, this web site is an apology--albeit, a vicarious one.

But take heart, there is an up-side. You've found it--this web site!

Where there's hope, there's a chance. Hell, in and of themselves, pigeons are a long shot to begin with. Yet, here they are...

We will not forget. We will not subside. Instead, we will persist, as they do. And we will remember. We might even prevail, for the back of the book is withheld.

Navigate this site, as time allows, as most of this is here. Carl and company took pains to make it encompassing.

PIGEONS FOREVER!!!

--Ray

[StvMer]

I want to thank Robb, John and Ray for your input - and for providing so much help to some noble and deserving birds.

Like you Ray, I have respect and compassion for all animals but agree with your 'final four' of man's best friends from the animal kingdom. Maybe others in our country have failed miserably to show gratitute and kindness to the pigeons in spite of all that they've done for us but I do believe this website is full of people like Robb and John and I hope even me who try to help and make life better for pigeons.

This gives me hope that maybe one day the quality of life will improve for all pigeons.

Real pigeon care from all of you. The best in information and writing quality, too.

This is what i found when i first saw Pigeons.com, and we're still doing it.

If only many more people would read it, we'd make a dent in that attitude problem!

[JGregg]

For some reason people hate pigeons, and take joy in their suffering. It is amazing that Columbiforms are so despised yet have not harmed a single human.

Yeesh, that quote makes me want to retch!

Band tailed pigeons are a truly North American pigeon species too, and are still here.

I'm glad that you help feral pigeons, they're wonderful. I feed the feral pigeons in SanFrancisco leftover seed my pigeons have tossed out of their cages. It is interesting that when I tell people I have pet pigeons they ask me what breed they are. When I tell the person my pigeons are rescued ferals their faces fall. Gah, people.....Go Figure.

[Nanci]

I was just listening to a book on CD, "Diary" by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) in which the woman is asked to name a color, an animal, and a body of water, and three adjectives that describe each one. (Some Jungian psychoanalysis deal.) For the animal she names a pigeon, and I'm thinking 'All right!!!" and then she describes it as "Dirty, stupid, ugly." Nice...

[hawkhater]

god bless all you feral lovers
Ifound a baby in sept and he is the greatest thing that ever happend to me now im friends whith all the nieborhood pijs and just today i rescued another one just hanging arond my house I dont know if hes sick or what but hes in good hands

and its so true about pigeons hopefully people will start to learn