Four years ago today my husband and I adopted a very special little pigeon. Little did we realise the impact this pigeon would have on our lives. We had no idea and no warning, so when the little pigeon showed us how special he was, we weren’t prepared for how swiftly he’d become an integral part of our family. … I am, of course, talking about our darling Elmo. He came to us desperately needing a new home – a home living with people, not in an aviary with pigeons. Elmo has special requirements due to his less than pigeon-like upbringing. He requires a person to bond with, to love.

Four years ago Elmo was 8 years old, which obviously means that this year Elmo is 12!!! We have made today, the date we adopted him, his hatchday. So please, everyone who knows and loves Elmo, please wish him a very happy hatchday!

Happy Hatchday, darling Elmo!!!! xxxx

For those of you who have pigeons who are in their 20’s I know 12 years of age is still considered young. Sometimes Elmo looks like an old man to me, other times he looks like a baby. I cannot imagine all the things he’s seen in his 12 years. With us, Elmo has a sheltered life and is loved and is free to give his love without any restrictions. And boy, does he give his love!

Every day we are reminded of the love a pigeon is capable of. People may scoff at the idea of a pigeon in love, but when you observe them you can clearly see how deeply pigeons can feel. I don’t subscribe to the thought that animals only act out of instinct. I dare you to watch our videos of Elmo (and Georgie) and not be amazed: Pigeons as Pets YouTube channel

But I digress – today is about celebrating Elmo!

Thinking of what would be the best way to spoil Elmo today, I bought him his favourite treats: pine nuts and sunflower hearts. The only other present I know Elmo would love is lots of attention and love, which he gets every day anyway, so we’ll have to try harder today to give him extra!

Hatchday celebrations with little glasses filled with seed. The rest are in a jar for Elmo to raid when he wants:

Elmo doesn’t look impressed with his party hat:

Georgie definitely doesn’t appreciate her clown hat:

Our darling pigeon-pie is FIVE years old!!!

HAPPY HATCHDAY, GEORGIE!!!!

I cannot believe another year has gone by. I feel very lucky to have such a gorgeous, loving pigeon in my home. Every day with Georgie brings little joys and surprises.

For Georgie girl’s special day we bought her a big jar of linseeds – a seed that she LOVES!

Georgie's Hatchday party

Elmo dressed for the occasion with a smart bowtie (which he hated so I had to take it off):

Elmo looking smart

And the birthday girl wore a pretty little heart necklace:

Georgie looking pretty, albeit scruffy from her moult

When Elmo saw Georgie tucking into her present he became jealous and jumped over to have his share!

I was very conscious of the fact that Elmo could peck Georgie so had to keep them seperate as best as I could with one hand. After a while Georgie realised that Elmo was stealing her present and she attempted to slap him:

Georgie tries to slap Elmo

Today our darling Elmo boy is 11 years old. Can you believe it?!

“Happy Hatchday, Elmo!!”

We’ve had Elmo for 3 years now, however, it feels like we’ve known and lived with him for longer. He’s such an integral part of our family that it’s hard to imagine what our life was like before him.

We woke up to a very happy pigeon on the bedside table, cooing and wing twitching with joy as he saw that we were awake and available to give him his morning hug. Then it was time for his presents: A knitted pigeon and a jar of pine nuts!

Elmo's hatchday presents

Elmo received a card from his original mum, as well as a card from us. I knitted the pigeon for Elmo (the pigeon is Cooey pigeon from Stitch London) and I think Elmo enjoyed playing with him (*ahem* pecking him *ahem*) very much, as you can see from the video:

We’ll be showering Elmo with even more love and affection today, and I’m sure he’ll be sick of all the cuddles and treats he receives by the end of the day.

Elmo tucking into the pine nut jar

It is a special day today: Georgie’s hatchday!

(Well, estimated day. We don’t know the exact date, only month, since she was found as a baby on the ground and taken to a rescue centre.)

Georgie is 4 years old, and still a baby in our eyes.

We have had her in our home for 3 years now, however, I’ve known Georgie for longer since she was brought to my work to be hand-reared and cared for. Georgie is the reason we fell in love with pigeons. Georgie is the source of my pigeon madness.

Now, how do you treat your pigeons on their special day when you spoil them so much everyday anyway? … Well, just give them more treats! Brioche is something that Georgie hasn’t had in a long time, so it was the choice treat for her on her hatchday.

And what else did she receive? Georgie received a card in the post from a friend (the lion card), and a card and two pigeon books from us that she’s been wanting. I’m sure I’m going to be reading these to her every night now.

Georgie checking out her presents

Today has been a gloriously sunny day, perfect for a little sunbathing time.

Georgie sunbathing

Georgie enjoying the sunshine

A visiting feral pigeon wanted to wish Georgie a “happy hatchday” but wasn’t sure about us humans being in the garden.

Feral pigeon on the roof

And Elmo has been on his best behaviour with Georgie today. He’s taken out his frustration on my feet instead. Ouch.

Georgie wants to send everyone a message of thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes she’s received on facebook. “Coo, coo, thank you!!”

We are wishing Elmo a very happy hatchday!!

For those who aren’t familiar with his story please go to his bio page. Elmo is 10 years old, and he’s been with us for two years exactly today. Since we don’t know the month when he hatched, only the year, we have made today his hatchday.

It feels like we have had Elmo for longer – he’s such an integral part of our family. I can imagine how sweet and adorable he would have been as a baby, since he’s so sweet and adorable now. Can you imagine Elmo as a little squeaker, with yellow fluff on his head and body, begging for food from his adopted mum? It melts my heart. Sadly, though, we haven’t got any photos of him when we was a baby – nor do we know anything about his early years. All I can say though is that we are so happy to have Elmo in our lives and he’s certainly converted a lot of people who have met him into pigeon admirers!

In the two years we’ve had him he’s gone on holiday with us, become broody, almost flew away, had his portrait painted, fallen in love with a cup and has given us a very big scare.

Having determined that Elmo loves pine nuts we decided to decorate a cupcake with them for his hatch day party.

Today is Georgie girl’s birthday (oops, hatchday!!)! I cannot believe she’s already 3 years old. It feels like we’ve had her for longer. For those who aren’t familiar with her story please go to her bio page.

It seems like only yesterday we brought home a small semi-blind boy, who later turned out to be a girl. We had to get over that shock first and start viewing Georgie as a girl (took me a while).

Today we celebrate the 2 years, 3 months we’ve had Georgie in our home. Over the past few years George has had to learn how to feed for herself (after almost a year of hand-feeding), she’s learnt to wear a bird harness and she’s been eggbound once. We lost her at one point and we’ve had to rehab her over her hot chocolate addiction. Georgie’s eyesight seems to have become a bit better – but still cloudy in one eye. The other has a distorted pupil.

We feel very privileged to have her in our life and hope to have many many many many more years with her.

Here’s Georgie and her pyramid of fairy cakes. Later she’s going to have a bowl of popcorn – her favourite!

Although we don’t know the date when Georgie was born we know that she must have been born in October 2007 since she was taken to a rescue centre in November as a squeaker. Richard and I made the 1st of October as her birthday since it’s easy for us to remember.

Elmo on the other hand is a bit of a mystery. We know he was born in 2000 but we don’t know what month. Since we took Elmo home with us on the 20th of November (in 2008) we’ve set that as the date of his birthday.

So this is just a heads up for all that Georgie will be 3 years old on the 1st of October and Elmo will be 10 years old on the 20th of November.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that Elmo is going to be 10 years old. A lot of people don’t realise how long birds can live for. I believe I’ve read that pigeons can live into their early 20’s in captivity (with good genes and the correct diet and housing. I think 15 years of age is the average lifespan of a captive pigeon), however, in the wild the average lifespan is 5 years (I don’t know this for certain, just what I’ve read). I hope and wish with all my heart that Elmo and George live well into their late 20’s, early 30’s!

We’ve taken on a long commitment and responsibility by taking these two pigeons into our care. We have to think about their physical and mental wellbeing, and if we want to go on holiday we have to think about pet-sitting, which adds on extra costs to the holiday budget. However, we wouldn’t change things. It is a responsibility and commitment we gladly take on to have them in our lives.

The only photo I have of George when she was found as a squeaker. Photo courtesy of Stuart Innes.