March 16, 2004

• Squab serems to be the new Foie Gras.
• Thanks SideDish! This is great. Song by a famous pigeon fancier.
• aren't doves actually pigeons, just pure white ones...? (reads thru' the site and finds that yes, they are) i think they're all beautiful, even if they do crap all over my dark green mini van like it was the only vehicle in the neighborhood. bwah! note that on the project pigeon watch navigation there's a bit of bird crap, hehe.
• But never, ever let the pigeon drive the bus.
• Dang, shinything beat me by a mile. That was the very first thought I had after reading the first sentence. (FPPFS?) Even now, I'm doing the little dance . . . in my mind . .
• Fond of pigeons, too -- kept a pair of ringnecked doves for several years, sweet little things but, one suspected, a deal more non compos than their wild brothren.
• although i must confess that i have indeed eaten pigeon pie in morocco. and it was rather tasty.
• Here are a couple of links about pigeons.
• sidedish - was that the main course, or (dare i say it...) an *ahem* side dish? (couldn't resist, sorry)
• Once heard of some mental condition that overtake those eating pigeon meat too often... supposedly affecting workers at shooting ranges and the like. Years ago at my parents', we made the mistake of start feeding a flock of wandering pigeons, without setting a proper place for them to rest or cover. The s****ed all over the roofs, destroyed TV aerials, left an incredible amount of grabage, feathers...
• Unlike landbound monkeys, flighted birds don't pay much attention to bird droppings. Why should they? Birds just fly away from their own mess. This is something potential pet owners as well as aviculturalists might consider carefully. By our gravity-challenged standards, when placed in too-close quarters, birds are MESSY. Of course, so are primates.
• caution live frogs: har har!
• We had a housesitter once who thought she was freakin' Mary Poppins, leaving us with a dung-drenched pigeon sanctuary for a home. Had to string wire all over our roof for five years to break the habit that three weeks of breadcrumbs had started.
• pigeons=shitbats
• But...but... I like pigeons. They coo very soothingly. I know they smell bad and they leave shit everywhere, but they do sound nice. I like them minced and steamed in bamboo containers too.
• When I was in Turkey a couple years ago I blew the best photo op. Lots of Turks raise pigeons and fly them in the evenings--kinda cool watching them from the rooftops waving a white flag on a pole to circle them in. I sat on a roof one fine summer evening drinking raki (booze) with a pigeon fancier and he told me all about his birds and their tricks, which was interesting, BUT the best thing was that his favorite birds wore EARRINGS and ANKLE BELLS! Apparently they pierce the skin on the neck and string beads and tiny bells for decoration--really unusual. And here I am thinking I'll get back and take pics--never did. :( Pisser.
• I'm partial to sky rats. In high school my younger brother used to get paid for shooting pigeons that had flown in to the school building. I've never personally killed a pigeon, but I think I maimed one once when it flew in to my motorcycle. I didn't see it before it hit. But had I seen it I would have swerved to make sure I hit it. Nice post.
• Pigeons On shallow slates the pigeons shift together, Backing against a thin rain from the west Blown across each sunk head and settled feather. Huddling round the warm stack suits them best, Till winter daylight, and they grow Hardly defined against the brickwork. Soon, Light from a small intense lopsided moon Shows them, black as their shadows, sleeping so. -- Philip Larkin
• Ugh I LOATHE pigeons! I am constantly cleaning their shit off my balconies and detroying the half arsed attempts at nests. And the horrible sound they make! And the smell! I miss beautiful Australian birds...
• I'm sure ye miss them, gomichild. Some of those Australian birds are regarded as pests, too, though, I hear. Birds that have been moved from their place of origin by human agency are no more to blame in and of themselves than for behaving naturally -- nesting, raising chicks, and feeding -- than any native wild species. What might be helpful is to encourage agencies and groups that support birds of prey, which delight on pigeons. Personally, I've always found the sounds pigeons and doves make to be rather soothing than offensive. Have the pigeons you complain of displaced any native species? Pigeons get a lot of bad press merely because they are visible and live in close proximity to man in large cities. They like flat or slightly shelving surfaces on which to nest and they lay down enough straw or other materials to keep their eggs from rolling away. They don't build the handsome nest structures that the weaverbird or the oriole does. Human beings have kept pigeons and doves for thousands of years -- as critters suited to the table. Beats me why people don't take more advantage of a perfectly good food source in our cities. Pigeons are not vermin; squab is considered a delicacy in some circles. What would be helpful is if human beings could foresee the consequences of their actions when they import non-native species. There have certainly been enough instances world-wide of the further imbalances doing so can cause.
• I quite like pigeons. They poop, but the rain washes it away. I've never noticed a smell. Many in the city are not healthy, but that is because of the environment. I find city seagulls more abusive. However, gulls are funnier than pigeons, the latter are soothing. It evens out.
• I'm always astonished by the many times I've seen gulls far inland. Last time I was in Albuquerque there was a Herring gull strutting about the parking lot of a mall.
• some gulls have settled in dublin's st stevens green (a very nice city park). i don't like the gulls because they bully the ducks. i like to watch ducks and can do so for hours at a time.
• Being carnivorous [at least according to the Wikipedia] or omnivorous, gulls are aggressive; they'll eat McDonald's French fires, hot dog buns, fish, dill pickles, small rodents, road kill, insects, and of course garbage - whatever's handy.
• Gulls are much more annoying. Their cry is a bit alarmist, although I do like the "hovering" thing they do in strong headwinds. Pigeons are okay by me for the cooing and the funky chicken head-bop they do. Doin' The Pigeon sung by Bert (Frank Oz) Written by Joe Raposo Every time I feel alone And slightly blue That's when I begin to think It's what I'd like to start to do And though it may not be the kind of thing That's quite your cup of tea I recommend you pay attention To the little dance you're gonna see Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Dancing a little smidgeon of The kind of ballet Sweeps me away Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon People may smile but I don't mind They'll never understand The kind of fun I find Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon everyday People may smile, but I don't mind! They'll never understand The kind of fun I find Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon Doin' the (coo, coo) pigeon everyday (transcribed by Deb)
• There is, of course, the time-honoured pigeon wing, speaking of dance.
• "Pigeon, winged cloak of grey, in the city's hellish maw, one glance and you fly away, your grace holds me in awe"
• Oh by the way, a friend of mine saw a pigeon in Hackney eating the corpse of another pigeon. This was the same place she saw a feral cat humping the corpse of another cat. She moved to Colliers Wood.
• *eerie organ music*
• The pigeon and the cat were on the bus! *cheery kazoo music*
• Which was driving? *wheezing horse and pig sounds via steam carousel*
• Ooo thems FPP-worthy horses and piggies!
• What would be helpful is if human beings could foresee the consequences of their actions when they import non-native species. There have certainly been enough instances world-wide of the further imbalances doing so can cause. Very very true Beeswacky. Especially in Australia. Saddening indeed. Reagrdless I still hate these bloody pigeons.
• Besides what kind of half-arsed nest effort is this?
• Looks like there's a slightly raised edge on both sides of a broad groove. That's all a pigeon hopes for.
• Pigeons and seagulls are as bad as each other if you ask me. As soon as kid#1 learned to walk we taught him to chase seagulls away. In California we used to go out of our way to shoo a pigeon off the footpath, just to annoy them. They're both scavengers and opportunists. Much like people, I suppose. I always throw our old bread and uneaten pieces on the lawn for the birds and, not surprisingly, we never see a native here in town. We've had ducks fly in, waddle around on the grass for a while and fly out again, which was pretty neat.
• Yes but unlike gulls, pigeons were put there by hungry Frenchmen.
• Actually, pigeon pie was a traditional favorite dish in Britain as long as farmers maintained flocks in their dovecotes.
• just occurred to me that pigeons, wood pigeons especially, remind me of men wearing morning suits.
• In days of yore, had a few of these. Gentle, harmless little things. The white doves used by stage magicians are a colour variant of these birds. Doves and pigeons, both domestic and wild, are creatures of great variety. And of course a centuries-long traditional symbol of peace in the West has been a dove.
• Pigeons on the grass, alas.
• MonkeyFilter: That's all a pigeon hopes for. why I don't like pigeons
• There are lots of little pinkish doves that hang around everwhere here, I believe they are pretty much the generic pink dove that lives everywhere in warm or arid countries, or a similar model. ;) Sometimes you'll see a scatter of pale feathers on the ground where a cat has gotten lucky, to the doom of a dove. The rest of the time they wander about harmlessly, cooing, eating infinitessimally tiny seeds out of the grass & chasing one another in that amusing, puffed-up, amorous-avian way. Several are fed by an apparently mentally ill lady who lives in one of the upstairs apartments & who always carries around large shopping bags absolutely bursting with some kind of stuff. This has made them bold. The doves have learned to eat the cat-biscuit crumbs left in the plastic trays outside my apartment, too, however when they step on the rim of the tray, their weight flips it up with a little clatter, which scares them, & they flutter away, only to come back & try again, with exactly the same results. Makes a chicken look like Einstein.
• Probably ring-necked doves aka turtle doves, Chy, folk from the British Isles seem to have introduced 'em everywhere. They survive because of sheer numbers.
• MonkeyFilter: Makes a chicken look like Einstein. Nothing, but NOTHING is funnier than magpies stealing the dog food. They're such gluttons, they'll eat the whole dish, then have to do an undignified scramble and hop away from the pissed-off doggies because their gut is too stuffed with dry kibble to get off the ground. When they finally make it up to the fence, they sit there looking miserable, but it doesn't keep them from doing it over again the next day.
• song of the magpie hey! I never say no to free eats I eat so much I can't rise to my feets as long as there's free food just lying around I won't flap my wings to get off the ground
• The Magpie Alan Ireland Of all the birds, both foul and fair, You stubbornly refused to wear Full mourning at the Crucifixion, And were cursed with this affliction: Piebald broods of raucous young, The devil's laugh on every tongue.
• A Panegyric on Geese I hate to sing your hackneyed birds -- So, doves and swans, a truce! Your nests have been too often stirred; My hero shall be -- in a word -- A goose. The nightingale, or else "bulbul", By Tommy Moore let loose, Is grown intolerably dull -- I from the feathered nation cull A goose. Can roasted Philomel a liver Fit for a pie produce? Fat pies that on the Rhine's sweet river Fair Strasburg bakes. Pray who's the giver? A goose! An ortolan is good to eat, A partridge is of use; But they are scarce -- whereas you meet At Paris, ay, in every street, A goose! When tired of war the Greeks became, They pitched Troy to the deuce; Ulysses, then, was not to blame For teaching them the noble "game Of Goose". May Jupiter and Bonaparte, Of thunder less profuse, Suffer their eagles to depart, Encourage peace, and take to heart A goose. -- Father Prout (Francis S. Mahoney)
• Do It With Squabs (you may need to scroll down to see it)
• Like this.
• I've been known to tie a young bird to a toothpick to clean my ears. Q-Tip Squabs
• I'd say that was a real groaner, GramMa, but I don't want to start a lot of squabbling.
• Blargh!
• The Riot Squab was here.
• There's a new pigeon-lover in my neighborhood. She seems borderline-obsessive with her displays of affection towards them. The other day she immersed herself in a large flock (I would guess a good hundred) that had congregated at the park's entrance. She danced around, crouched down low to the ground, and held her hands out to pet them as they fluttered and pecked by... She smiled and cooed along. I was sure that I was seeing the pigeon world's Jane Goodall. She left momentarily, and in her absence a small group of children came and stomped their feet on the ground to scare the pigeons away. The woman came running back, screaming at the top of her lungs. Tears started to flow. Emotions were high. She fought them all off (the kids) with a stick.