the ABCs of Birds **P**

[dale]

Wow, you chicks are on a roll tonight!

some play strip poker; this is no doubt more attractive

[anneintoronto]

Good Grief!!  P and I almost slept through it!!  This is my big moment!!!  What I've been waiting for!!!

P is for my second favourite birds, PIGEONS!

I live in downtown Toronto.  In a highrise.  On the 21st floor.  And I have the most delightful visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on my balcony!  PIGEONS!!  They are the most maligned, most badly treated of all city birds.  The things I've seen make tears come to my eyes!  But on my balcony, they are king and queen, with all their little princes and princesses!!  Couples stay for years, raising their little squabs, teaching them to feed themselves, groom themselves and the most wonderful, how to fly out into our world!  The parents are just as careful and skilled as Mariah and Kaver.  Nothing is overlooked right from the beginning!  Squab bumps its head -- mom or dad grooms the scare and ruffled feathers for a long time.  Can't pick up a seed -- the parents will teach the skill over and over again!  Getting the nerve up to take off into the wild blue yonder, the lesson is taught over and over again, grooming is done to placate a bad case of nerves, little bumps and tweeks are applied, and that little bird flies in tandem with a parent -- never alone!!  Altitude lost -- on the wrong balcony -- by little leaps, flutters, pushes, the little one is always led home!  And there is intergenerational interaction -- older "children" come back to visit, "grandchildren" are dropped off for a visit and are are fed and groomed by the grandparents, even if they have eggs of their own!

I know that most of you probably think I'm nutty, but I have had the priviledge of watching these wonderful birds for many years and I can't say enough good about them.  Even when I had to invite the last little squab into my apartment, as my balcony was being rennovated for 3 months, and he hatched at completely the wrong time, I was not disappointed -- Mom and Dad flew in the window, fed, cleaned, taught, despite the circumstances!  These are not pet birds -- they are completely wild -- but they braved the indoors and looked after their funny wee offspring, right down to teaching flying out over the livingroom and diningroom, until the squab was ready to fledge off the balcony!  And NOT ONCE did any of them drop a piece of dodo anywhere, except next to the squab's tub, where there was an old piece of carpet.  Of course, I did threaten to wring the neck of the first offender, but they knew I didn't mean it!  I think...
I wish I could show you all the photos I have -- but I think there are a few thousand too many.  So I will try to pick a few...just to show you a little of my wild family!  If anyone wants to see a better range, them PM me...(but don't all rush at once!  )  I don't have time tonight to do more.  This is just the last little squab and his dad.

Anne in Toronto

[dale]

AHA!!  Brava!  I would never have seen a squab if Anne hadn't shared hers with me, for which I am eternally grateful. Anne, I really really think you ought to show a few more. They'e amazing - especially when they're really young and science-fiction-like. Their beaks are weird. I find it astounding that I can live in a veritable SEA of pigeons and never see a squab. I hear them in train underpasses, but never ever see them.

Since Pigeons have been mentioned...once, while wandering around in bird names, I found the name WONGA PIGEON - when I followed it up, I discovered an awfully nicely patterned pigeon. Photo below is by Glen Fergus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wonga_Pigeon.jpg

Dale

[anneintoronto]

Anne, I really really think you ought to show a few more. They'e amazing - especially when they're really young and science-fiction-like. Their beaks are weird.  dale

Only as you requested them...  Hard to pick from so many...

Anne in Toronto -- have to get ready to go to work... probably enough anyway!

Pigeons hatching and growing


Mom -- Black Dove -- egg and Fortuna trying to help or demanding a space herself...


Two squabs -- only their first day!


Father -- Squiggles -- taking his turn on the squabs.


Squabs about 2 weeks old -- no cere on their beak -- looking a litte alien, as Dale says!

[annieinelkhart]

I pick Pelicans since we see them around us now!  Picture from last year in Dunedin, FL

[Carol P.]

And P, of course, is for Peregrine Falcon (waiting for Donna and some more Kaver photos).

This is Rhea Mae from the 2006 Falcon Watchers Weekend.

WooHoo Peregrine Falcons!  Love that picture of the beautiful Rhea Mae Patti!  Thanks for sharing!

[Carol P.]

Anne - You should definitely post more pics of the baby Pigeons aka Rock Doves.   

[anneintoronto]

Anne - You should definitely post more pics of the baby Pigeons aka Rock Doves.   

Too tired to find what I was looking for and have to leave for work...  Maybe I can get some together by the time we get up to
R is for Rock Dove!!  If you're sure...  At lot of people find pigeons either offensive or boring...

Anne yawning in Toronto!

[Donna]

Of course Patti, I will post my P for P2T: Kaver , naturally.


Gee, it's such a big pic, sorry!

[Annette]

Pine Siskin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Siskin

[Carol P.]

Anne - You should definitely post more pics of the baby Pigeons aka Rock Doves.  

Too tired to find what I was looking for and have to leave for work...  Maybe I can get some together by the time we get up to
R is for Rock Dove!!  If you're sure...  At lot of people find pigeons either offensive or boring...

Anne yawning in Toronto!

I like Pigeons.  Of course, I like ALL birds.  If I can find it, I'll post the picture of the Pigeon I took a few years ago that Dale liked so much.  

[dale]

Right...those "hatching and growing" shots of squabs are the ones I meant. That's so wild....willya look at those beaks...

Peregrine -
 
a few drawings based on the 2005 Rochester clutch: http://pesmen.com/falcons/

just a few of the later drawings: http://www.pesmen.com/2009/023.html

Here's one drawn from a shot Linn Pierson took of the Jersey City birds. She called the photo "Two and a Beak" because she realized after she took it that there was a third chick hiding there:

Dale

[Annette]

Pied Wheatear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Wheatear

[anneintoronto]

Pied Wheatear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Wheatear

What a handsome bird, Annette!  Another that most of us won't see in person, so will enjoy via your photo!  Thank you!

Anne in Toronto

[Kris G.]

Anne - You should definitely post more pics of the baby Pigeons aka Rock Doves.   

Too tired to find what I was looking for and have to leave for work...  Maybe I can get some together by the time we get up to
R is for Rock Dove!!  If you're sure...  At lot of people find pigeons either offensive or boring...

Anne yawning in Toronto!

I'd love to see more pics too, Anne!  And I loved your stories-very interesting-didn't know anything about them!