Silent Blue Angels

essay by Signe Drake

Why do we despise pigeons, but use doves--white pigeons--as symbols of peace and love? That's the question that came to my mind when I was snapping a photo of a pigeon flock. An angry man stormed up and asked me whether I was going to get rid of the flock because they ruined the finish on his car.. On the other side of the block an elderly man talked tenderly to his "pijis" as he fed them.

Pigeons have been part of my neighborhood for years. They used to live in an abandoned house locals called "the pigeon house." You could hear their melodic, soft cooing from the street, but you couldn't see them. On the hidden side of the house, the roof and windowsills were tightly packed with pigeons. That house has been restored and the flock now lives on the rooftop of a nearby hospital.

Pigeons are cool. They are swift, agile flyers. At speeds up to 80 miles an hour, they cover the 16 square blocks of our neighborhood in seconds, like silent Blue Angels. If the opportunity arises, pigeons also make great friends. "The Charm of a Pigeon" by Raymond P. Buchholz is an enlightening, true story about a pigeon named Bernie. It can be found online at urbanwildlife.org.

Peregrine Falcons are an endangered species making a comeback helped by a good supply of healthy pigeons. The use of DDT nearly wiped out the falcons by causing them to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke before hatching. There were no breeding pairs left in the 1960s. The Seattle Peregrine Project has a webcam atop the Washington Mutual Building where you can see the now empty nestbox where parents Stewart and Bell raised four young peregrines in 2002. Merlin Hawks eat pigeons, as do Red-tailed and Cooper's Hawks.

Pigeons have also helped people. We use them to test drugs and chemicals. Thousands of pigeons served in World War I and II as message carriers. Cher Ami, Long John Silver and GI Joe are three honored, distinguished carrier pigeons who heroically delivered crucial messages that saved human lives. Today pigeons are still saving lives by delivering medications in remote areas. They have been trained to locate lifejackets and can help find people lost at sea. The common city pigeon was introduced from Europe more than 200 years ago. They are the feral descendants of domesticated Rock Doves (Columba livia). They are monogamous and mate for life, but if one dies, the other will take a new mate. Both parents care for their young. They can brood young year round. Their natural diet consists of seeds, green plants and insects. In cities their diet additionally includes popcorn, bread, grain and cake fed by people. And chicken. I recently had the unnerving experience of watching a ravenous party of pigeons cannibalize a chicken carcass. It is illegal to feed wildlife, including pigeons, in most cities in Washington State.

According to Audubon, "Results of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count show Rock Doves are undergoing a rapid range expansion across North America. The rapid increase in urban population centers has certainly influenced the expansion of the Rock Dove... Finally, doves may have benefited by warmer winter temperatures across North America in recent years."

Pigeons have been called "flying rats" in part because their droppings carry disease. A web search for "pigeon droppings" returned hundreds of hits with words like "health hazard", "Psittacosis" and "Cryptococus". Pigeon exterminators would have you believe that pigeons are lethal; if they land on your roof your house will be destroyed and your children will die. According to the National Centers for Disease Control there are less than 50 cases of Psittacosis reported per year in the entire United States, and less than one person out of 100,000 is reported infected with Cryptococcus. Pigeon poop, like any other manure, is a nutrient source for the growth of bacteria and fungi. If you must play with large piles of pigeon poop, wear gloves and a respirator.

Pigeons have been victims of painful, cruel attempts to eradicate them. One product called "Hot Foot" is a transparent jelly-like substance applied to perching sites to discourage birds. If the gel is applied without using hardener, birds can become stuck and bite their legs off to get free. One pest exterminator suggested that pigeons be "baited" with edible corn for a while before slipping in corn poisoned with Aviator. As they live for awhile, the screams of the dying birds are a deterrent to other pigeons. More effective and humane strategies for reducing the number of pigeons at a location are reducing human garbage, anti-pigeon planning in new construction, and erecting physical barriers to desirable roosting sites. In the event of apocalypse, pigeons are edible.

WWW Washington Free Press