pigeon shenanagains

Yesterday morning, there was a third pigeon on the balcony!!  This one was smaller than Burt, sort of a white & brown mottled bird.  However, like the other pigeon stranger, this one is also without tags. 

This morning, both of the strange birds showed up together!!  Well.  A line had to be drawn somewhere, & this is where Roomie & i decided to draw it.  No colonies of pigeons.  It's one thing to feed one lost pigeon (since that's what these professional pigeon persons said to do when emailed,) & it's one thing to clean up one bird's poop from your balcony.  It's an entirely different thing to be attracting random pigeons & surrendering your $800 view to the pecking & pooping of an ever-increasing flock.  And besides, Burt doesn't even do anything!  All day, he lounges around the balcony, pooping.  Doesn't he have bird things to do?  Get a job, jerk!!  (The only advantage i have over Burt is that i don't poop in the apartment.. so at least there's that.)

And so, the bird battle began.

It took both of us five minutes just to shoo him off the balcony at all, & even then he would just fly back to the other side.  Eventually, we wised up, putting on shoes & pushing all the furniture against the building, allowing us to run freely along the rail, shooing at him with our feet that no longer gingerly tiptoed around pigeon poopy traps.  Finally, we started scrubbing this week's bird turds off the balcony (& table & chairs & chaise lounge) while Burt watches, concerned from nearby balconies & fire escapes.  When he isn't cooing curiously from just outside of our reach, he's circling the building after his failed attempts to perch outside our rail.

Realizing that mere shooing would be unsuccessful in reclaiming our balcony, Roomie & i weigh our options:  Adopt a Cuban homing pigeon, or relocate said pigeon.

We open the screen door, & he just saunters right in.  Luckily, we thought to close said door, as our attempts to corral him into a box using tennis racquets failed & i snatched him up in a towel as he was fluttering against the screen.  As nonchalantly as we could manage, we carried this pigeon in a box into the elevator & through the lobby.  We drove a few islands away, maybe fifteen miles from our landmark of a building.  When we opened the box he hopped around for a few moments before taking off.  He flew in 5 or 6 increasing circles before disappearing.  Now all we can do is wait.

pigeons, plural

Two days ago, i was in the apartment when i noticed a strange cooing from our balcony.  By strange, i mean both a different pattern of vocalizations than what Burt (our Cuban racing pigeon) usually makes, & also a different pigeon voice.  Upon investigation, i discover a much larger, darker pigeon chasing our much smaller grey pigeon around the balcony.  I sat, quietly watching the scene, uncertain of what to do.  Noticing that this new pigeon is without tags, i decided to put our tennis rackets to use, shooing the wild bird away.

The next day, the same thing happens again.  Same cooing, same shooing.

This evening, Roomie & I sat outside, thrilled by the sight of two baby dolphins in the canal, when we noticed a sudden swooping of feathers around the building.  It was Burt, alternatively pursuing & being pursued by the black pigeon.  Curious, we watched, until Roomie finally suggested, 'What if Burt is actually a lady bird?  A sexy lady bird?"  Of course, neither of us know the answer to that question, but it has now posed the new question of what to do regarding this new visitor? (And, given the amount of poop one pigeon produces, this visitor is one we aren't hoping to encourage.)

lost: pigeon

At the beginning of the month, before my scheduled arrival, my new roommate announces that there is a bird in her apartment.  Further updates reveal that it is a homing pigeon that has decided that her open door is an open invitation.

After a couple of days, she does a little bit of internet investigation.  Using his tag numbers, she discovers that he is most likely a racing pigeon from Cuba.  The organization that he probably belongs to doesn't have a website, or any way for her to contact them.  But, some of the other people she found online (because apparently pigeon racing is big sport) said that it's not uncommon for them to need a little bit of food & rest in the middle of a race, which can be upwards of 600 miles!  Following their advice, she puts some water & raw brown rice on the balcony, for which he is obviously grateful.  

Now, it's about a week later.  The pigeon is still here.  He leaves for hours, but always comes back.  We don't mind him, or really even the poop all over the balcony, but we are concerned.  In the course of her investigation, she has learned that often, if the birds aren't any good (too slow, often lost, whatever makes a homing pigeon 'bad') are euthanized.  It seems apparent that this guy isn't going to win whatever race he's supposed to be participating in, what would happen if we miraculously found a way to send him back?!

Or, maybe like a lot of Cuban athletes, he's defected, & we're providing him political asylum.