Here are a few of my favourite videos our pet pigeons, Georgie, Elmo and Dora:

It’s been a very good weekend for us here with Georgie back to good health. She’s been snuggling up to me a lot and stealing food from my plate whenever she’s had the chance. She managed to run away with a piece of my tortilla yesterday, dragging cheese, corn, lettuce, tomatoes and salsa across the sofa. Lovely.

Elmo has been his usual wonderful self, cooing and twitching and loving. He loves shredded cabbage and lettuce so I’ve been dropping pieces on the kitchen floor whenever he’s in there keeping me company. He likes to keep an eye on things. And he loves his mineral pick-pot! The kitchen floor is covered with the pieces he’s been throwing about. He has very messy eating habits.

There are so many wonderful quirks of Elmo’s that I want to record. I think I need to hire a film crew to follow him about all day so they can capture his funny behaviours. A documentary about Elmo and Georgie would be a good idea.

Another project for me, I guess.

Whenever I see Georgie or Elmo doing something funny or unusual then I usually rush to capture it on camera for everyone to witness. Failing that, I’ll quickly scribble down what I’ve seen for future reference.

Here’s a few things that I’ve jotted down in my notepad:

• Georgie slurps!! – She’s a very noisy drinker; slurping up the water in a very uncivilised manner. What will the neighbours think?!
• Elmo loves trouser tie cords! – He’ll spot them if you’re sitting next to him. He’ll look at them intently. Then he’ll peck at them and hold them in his beak and either try to take them with him to his nest, which isn’t possible because the tie cords are attached to your trousers, or he’ll try to swallow them! No idea why.

Other things I’ve written:

101 pigeon uses (tried and tested):

1. Handheld brush: Hold pigeon in hands, tilt them so they fan out their tail feathers for balance and use the feathers to sweep up any mess.
2. Fan: Perch pigeon on hand, then move your hand up and down to make the pigeon flap its wings, and hey presto, you have your own personal fan!

… That’s about as far as I got with that list. Any other suggestions?

And finally, I found the following thought:

“I guess the difference between having a pigeon and having a cat or a dog is that rarely, if ever, does a dog or cat view you as their mate. Therefore, you won’t get the same kinds of interactions and behaviours from a dog or cat that you’ll get from a bonded pigeon. A pigeon will love you like a partner.”

Not entirely sure where that thought came from, but it was most likely after having witnessed Elmo trying to feed Richard and then try to mate with him (for videos of this: January 14th). Not quite the same as seeing a dog hump your leg.

Ps. Please don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and cats. I’m in no way saying that they are any lesser than pigeons, just different. Obviously.

Mr Puddy-cat, who lives with my dad and little sister

Osku, a cairn terrier, who lives with my Finnish grandparents

Richard likes to play a little game with Elmo: The Running Game. He’ll run away from Elmo and Elmo will run after him. When Elmo has caught up with Richard, he’ll turn around and chase Elmo, who quickly legs it across the living room away from Richard. Then Richard will run away with Elmo hot on his heels. It’s so funny!!

When Elmo runs he holds his wings out slightly (for balance). He has a slight limp and it is more visible when he runs. I find it all very adorable.

When Richard played the Running Game yesterday, Elmo was so eager to get to him that he started flapping as he ran and then actually flew after Richard!! Since Elmo doesn’t really fly very well – he can hover for a bit and do a somersault but cannot really fly forward intentionally – this was a very big surprise for us. We couldn’t stop laughing. Elmo had flown after Richard, did a bit of a “loop de loop”, then landed on Richard’s hand – cooing and bowing his head like mad as if to say, “Finally, I’ve caught you. Now will you stop running away from me and give me a cuddle!” We were in stitches.

Here is the cute boy all cuddled up and happy:

And as we all know, Elmo is such a curious thing and has to be in on the action and centre of attention (just see: Photo shoot and Elmo boy photos) that he hopped into Richard’s tool box while he was busy sorting it out:

Now, we mustn’t forget about Georgie! She’s been a very good girl and hasn’t been up to much lately, which is why I sometimes find it hard to write about her (see: Secret George). So I’m simply going to share with you a lovely photo of her out in the garden with her bright blue harness on:

For weeks now we have been trying to capture on camera Elmo doing the Very Big Hop – with no success.

Let me explain what the Very Big Hop is:

Elmo is busy attacking my hands on the sofa. Then he sees Richard’s hand hovering over his nest. Eagerly leaving my hands Elmo walks (with a certain glint in his eyes) over to his nest and does a Very Big Hop with tail fanned out, ending with his head bowed low under his body under Richard’s hand. Ta-da!!

It is the sweetest thing ever to watch! So funny!

But every time we try to set the scene Elmo doesn’t do the Very Big Hop – rather a very small one, which doesn’t have the same flare and character as the Very Big Hop. … Somehow I think Elmo knows what we’re doing and actively sabotages the camera shot.

We’ll just have to keep trying.

Watch this space!

So Elmo’s not particular in where he sleeps or where his nest is right? … Wrong!

Elmo’s nest wasn’t in the right place so he fell alseep in the spot where it should have been. Ok, so we get the idea Elmo, no need to rub it in our face! We’ll make sure your nest is EXACTLY in the right spot! Sheesh, what a fussy boy!

In other news, Elmo took a fancy to the light switch cord:

One thing I love about having pigeons is that they’re always surprising me with their behaviour. I’ve never had pigeons before so I don’t know what to expect. Often I turn to see what Elmo or Georgie are doing and see them doing something so funny or sweet that my heart melts with love for them. It’s amazing!

Georgie having a nap

One such funny behaviour is when Georgie decides to sit down in the middle of the floor for a nap. You’d think she’d want to find a nice secluded spot since she’s semi-blind but no, the middle of the floor is the safest place in her mind!

Not only are pigeons surprising, they’re also very cunning. Elmo seems to like attacking me and today I didn’t have any socks on whilst cooking and Elmo ran up to me and gave my toes a good pecking. Ouch!! He’s lucky I didn’t pop him into the pot for pigeon stew, the sneaky bugger. But Elmo’s most cunning act is to poo on the sofa and wait for me to come clean it up. As soon as my hand reaches down to wipe the poo away with kitchen roll Elmo strikes, viciously attacking my hand. Sometimes I have to ask my husband to hold Elmo so I can clean up after him, because I can see how eagerly Elmo’s eyeing up my hand. It’s all a fun game for him! The other day I thought I’d be clever and held a magazine around the poo so I could clean it in peace, however, Elmo was quick to react and ran around to the other side and managed to peck my hand. Richard was in stitches over the sight.

Elmo preening

Yesterday was another lazy Sunday and although Richard was having a nap on the sofa and therefore couldn’t give Elmo any cuddles, Elmo was happy to stand on Richard and preen himself. He’s just happy to have Richard in the same room, even if he’s fast asleep. I was afraid Elmo was going to wake my hubby up at one point because he was gently pecking Richard’s leg, his way of preening him. Sweetness.

Now that George is getting broody again she’s trying to find a good spot to lay her eggs in. She seems to like the little shelf on the side of the coffee table, however, whenever I put her fleece nest in there she kicks it out. Weird.

Elmo: I had a thought the other day about Elmo and his funny courting behaviour (see More garden tales). Maybe it is all down to him having bad eyesight?! Maybe Elmo thinks he’s courting a pigeon when he sees the cup (a very brightly coloured pigeon!)? Anything’s possible!

Georgie: Here’s her new hairdo after a shower. I think it is very smart!

Dora: I shot some video footage of Dora and the pigeons when I took them their lunch (consisting of seed, peanuts and brioche). There was a feeding frenzy – all I could see was their bums in the air! Dora is the speckled one nearest to the camera. She and her mate, Pidge, love any soft and sweet bread or pastry – possibly because they are feeding their young and like any fatty foods. You can see their two baby squeakers under the hutch. Sweethearts.

Elmo clearly doesn’t have the same body image as most other pigeons. The other day I actually saw him run away from a feather that was sticking out oddly from his wing! I find it hard to describe and you had to be there to really understand how hilarious and absurd he was behaving. Elmo was running away from a feather that was sticking out of his wing!!!! How ridiculous is that?! (Richard has previously reported Elmo’s funny feather behaviour: Elmo the human pigeon)

Another behaviour that makes me laugh is sometimes when Richard gets up to get a drink Elmo will chase after him like he’s afraid Richard will disappear. He is so quick!

And Georgie has her funny behaviour too. When she’s in her real lovey dovey mood she’ll stick to me like glue. When I lie on the sofa watching TV Georgie insists on sitting right under my chin. It would be alright if she only didn’t move about so much (she likes to move her legs back and forth as if she’s making a nest). If I’m not wearing a jumper or high-necked shirt then she really scratches up my neck and chest. Ouch.

Here’s a few funny pigeon clips found on YouTube: