2023-11-10 08:59:00
Flying rats, they are disparagingly called. What is it with people? As soon as another animal species reaches, say, one-tenth of humanity in numbers, and comes easily within sight or hearing, that species is considered an enemy. The brown rat comes first. Urban pigeons can count their blessings: 1. It would be even worse if people called rats crawling pigeons.
I don’t understand that aversion. Urban pigeons poop, but that is their only disadvantage. Some people will be annoyed by their cooing, but I suspect they are also annoyed by sparrows and starlings. City pigeons clean up our mess: fries, bread. In addition, they provide a covered table for birds of prey that sometimes have a more difficult time outside the cities than in them: sparrowhawks, hawks, peregrine falcons.
Urban pigeons are the human-habituated descendants of rock pigeons, which live in the mountains, especially on coasts. They cross with urban pigeons and this might allow the wild rock pigeon to urbanize. Okay: that’s another disadvantage of the city pigeon.
Urban pigeons and homing pigeons are usually light gray with dark wing stripes. But you sometimes also see almost white or orange-brown and regularly almost black specimens. There is always some lilac and green shine. They apparently get that black plumage when they inhale a lot of heavy metals from exhaust fumes, for example. These heavy metals are toxic and are neutralized by melanin, the pigment that provides the black part in bird feathers. It also makes feathers strong.
When I sit on a terrace or park bench, I like to see city pigeons. In between chasing crumbs, the drakes always make time for decorating attempts. If a pigeon responds, a tender lovemaking session follows.
So be cautious when swearing at the flying rat, especially at parties. Before you know it, a pigeon fancier flies into the curtains. Carrier pigeons are also city pigeons.
Three times a week, biologist Koos Dijksterhuis writes regarding something that grows or blooms. Read his previous Nature Diaries here.
1699741155
#Respect #flying #rat #Fidelity
