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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.
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