We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year. We certainly did. Elmo and Georgie helped decorate the tree by flying up to the top to place the baubles and the star. … Just kidding. Our two pigeons cannot fly that well.

We placed Elmo and Georgie’s presents under the tree and they were certainly intrigued by the shiny packages.

Georgie and Elmo's Christmas presents

Georgie taking a closer look!

Elmo is curious too!

Here’s the boy opening his present:

We thought it was the perfect gift for Elmo because it moves about and is soft so he can preen it (or peck it if he so pleases!). Elmo sure had fun with the yappy puppy!

Georgie received a soft cuddly hedgehog to have in her cage so she can preen it (since she loves to preen fluffy things). Sadly, Georgie doesn’t like the camera so she rarely lets me take any video of her.

After we had all opened our presents and there were boxes, wrapping paper and bubblewrap everywhere, Georgie decided to have another look in case we’d missed anything. She loved the bubblewrap!

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Richard received a surprising gift from his Secret Santa at work, and he couldn’t wait to show them to Elmo when he got home. Meet Fergie and Scarlet, the newest members of our pigeon family:

We think they’re awesome – a lovely Christmas present! – however, Elmo wasn’t impressed at all:

Georgie didn’t like the sound they made so she ran away whenever she heard them near her.

Georgie pigeon meets Fergie

We tried again to introduce Scarlet and Fergie to Elmo without him pecking them.

Elmo pecking the toy pigeons

Richard calmed Elmo down and then placed the toys near him in his nest, and Elmo tolerated them while he cooed and twitched to Richard:

We’ve already learnt that Elmo does not like any other pigeons in the home (our attempts with Dora, Minnie, and Button have all been a failure), so we really should stop collecting other pigeons (even inanimate, or in this case, animate ones). But I cannot help myself. Pigeons are simply too adorable.

Many of you may already know that I work at a wildlife rescue centre, and as a result, I have cared for many injured and orphaned pigeons (in fact, woodpigeons are the second most common animal we have brought in – over 410 this year! – hedgehogs being the first). My love of pigeons was sparked from hand-rearing the orphaned feral pigeons, and both Elmo and Georgie were first taken to my work before we welcomed them into our home. So while I’ve helped rear and rehabilitate hundreds of pigeons, I don’t often find ones that need rescuing.

In the past few months, however, I’ve found two feral pigeons that needed rescuing. One was walking slowly across a road in town and the short steps it was taking caught my attention. I could see that something was wrong, and as I approached the pigeon it didn’t have the strength to fly away. I picked it up and took it immediately to work. The poor pigeon was painfully thin and sadly died the same day. I had found it when it was at the end of its life. It is always sad when a rescued animal dies, however, at least the pigeon was in a safe and warm environment in its last hours.

The second feral pigeon I found was standing one morning by my car as I was preparing to leave for work. It didn’t fly away when I approached it and was clearly in need of rescuing. Once at work, I could see that the feral was thin and had a puncture wound by his right wing. He’s in a warm cage and receiving the medication he needs, and hopefully, in a few weeks, he’ll recover and be released. Fingers crossed.

The second feral pigeon in need