Remember when I wrote about Elmo stealing Georgie’s igloo nest? (see: Elmo takes revenge).

Well, Georgie reclaimed her nest and Elmo was left feeling bereft. He kept walking up to the place where the igloo nest used to be and he’d stand there looking lost and a bit sad. So I made him a little tent for him to sit under but he wasn’t very impressed with my efforts.

Elmo in his 'tent'

So you can guess what happened next. … We got Elmo his very own igloo nest and he LOVES it!!

Elmo in his new nest

When I first placed it down Elmo spread his tail feathers out and started cooing and dancing to the nest, as if he was courting it!! I could tell he was very impressed.

So now both pigeons have two nests to choose from each (the guinea pig bed as well as the cat igloo bed) and there shouldn’t be any disputes over property.

Living with pigeons is amazing. The love and affection they show us is incredible and I truly believe that every child should grow up with pigeons to care for. You can learn so much from observing them. Pigeons are intelligent, comical, beautiful, loyal, and of course loving. I couldn’t imagine how my childhood would have been if I had been deprived of learning to care for animals or watching pigeons in the city. Animals brighten my day and those short times when I didn’t have a pet, I knew I was missing something special.

Although I never ever thought as a child that I’d end up with pigeons in the house. Dogs, rats, gerbils and guinea-pigs? Yes! But pigeons? Never even crossed my mind.

Nowadays you’ll often find me on the sofa with a pigeon by my side. Sorry, with a pigeon on me. Whenever I’m on the sofa Georgie will leap onto my lap, demanding to nestle down. Once settled she is the most content little pigeon in the world, all relaxed, safe and comfy. Elmo will usually be in his nest, twitching his wings and cooing softly to call me over. If I look at him he’ll go into spasms of excitment (i.e. the wing twitching goes up a notch and his coos increase in volume!) as he anticipates my hand coming over to stroke him. What a darling!

Having said all of this, there are days my pigeons drive me mad with their attention-seeking and demands. Take today, for instance. Georgie insists on sitting on my lap for cuddles despite me obviously being busy with my knitting. Georgie grabs hold of the needles and shakes them about, which of course makes it difficult for me to continue. If she’s quick enough she may even pull them out of the knitting, leaving me with open stitches just itching to unravel!! Infuriating… and yet, so cute. Even when I’m screaming in my head, I give Georgie a kiss and a cuddle and tell her how cute she is. Georgie is of course oblivious to my frustration. She simply accepts my affection and settles down for a nap. If I need to get up for any reason, I have to carry her with me.

Elmo is much the same – very needy! He likes to find places to attract me over to (e.g. Georgie’s nest) by cooing loudly and he won’t be quiet unless he falls asleep. … Which he usually does since I think he’s a bit narcoleptic. So I know that any cooing episodes from Elmo will be short-lived. Not so with Georgie. She can coo and coo forever!!

There are some traits in Elmo that make me giggle. When he’s nodding off he’ll usually open one of his eyes slightly to see if I’m still sitting near him. If I give him the smallest, almost imperceptible nod he’ll immedately start twitching and nod his head back. Sweetheart!

The other is that Elmo can be quite fickle. One minute he’ll be attacking my fingers – peck, peck, die, die – then he’ll notice something he likes and run away to court it. Then he’ll give me his “I’m interested in you” coo and start to court my hand. When I hear him cooing in his “I’m interested in you” voice in another room I know he’s found a sock or shoe (or other item on the floor) that’s perked his interest and that he’ll be puffing out his chest and dancing to the inanimate object with gusto.

I love my pigeons!!

Elmo and Georgie send their love this Valentine’s Day
to everyone who appreciates pigeons!!

Georgie and Elmo send their love!

The first photo had to be shot very quickly before they attacked each other. Sadly they don’t love each other, but they do love you!!

Georgie

Elmo

Pigeons love to bathe. Anyone who has observed pigeons will notice this. And because of this wonderful pastime that is such a delight to watch I’ve written numerous posts about my bathing (and showering) pigeons.

• These posts will appear when clicking on the ‘bath’ tab: http://www.pigeonsaspets.co.uk/tag/bath/

• I also found many videos of pigeons bathing and having a shower: Shower Time and Bathing pigeons having fun

So, what went wrong? Why have Elmo and Georgie suddenly decided that they no longer want a bath? … Sure, they’ll try to have a bath in their tiny water bowl next to their food, but when I go buy a large plastic container for them to have a good soaking in, they reject it!! They’ve even rejected having a bath in the other dishes and containers they used to bathe in. I don’t understand what has happened. When I see Georgie trying to bathe in her water bowl, I’ll quickly get the large dish out and ready but when placed into it, Georgie will simply jump out and walk away. Elmo does the same. … I have to admit, I am completely stumped as to why they are behaving like this.

As far as I can tell nothing has changed, but something, in their minds, has turned their minds away from bathing in the large bowls. I guess I’ll have to leave them to bathe in their tiny water bowls – which is actually quite a funny thing to watch since they obviously cannot get the desired soaking, despite all their attempts.

Here are some photos of Elmo and Georgie in their bathing heyday:

Elmo in the dish he used to like bathing in

Georgie happily soaking in the bathroom sink

Elmo chilling out in the sun

Georgie bathing in a large bowl

One of my favourite days is finally upon us!

Pigeon Appreciation Day!!

Spread the word – spread the love – it’s time to celebrate Columbiformes around the world!!

Today is about showing our appreciation – worldwide – and letting other people know that we appreciate pigeons for what they are: loyal, funny, loving, and intelligent birds who, given the chance, will make a strong connection with people.

Our disabled pet pigeons, Elmo and Georgie, would like to wish everyone a very Happy Pigeon Day! They gathered all their pigeon toy friends to join in the celebration:

Elmo

Georgie

It has been raining the past few days but today the sun peeped out and chased the rain away, so the visiting pigeon flock enjoyed their bountiful breakfast in our garden in the glorious weather, although the squirrel scared them away from the seed dish to scoff his face (never one to miss a free breakfast!). I knew this was most likely going to happen so I spread the seed throughout the garden to ensure that everyone got something to eat.

On Facebook 656 people have indicated they will celebrate today: Pigeon Appreciation Day 2012

To find like minded people:

• Pigeon Angels
• Pigeon Talk
• Mickacoo
• Pigeon and Dove Rescue

There are a few things Elmo is afraid of. In order of the most scary thing:

1. Hats and helmets – he’s scared of anyone wearing a hat or helmet.
2. Vacuum cleaner – but then again, who isn’t?
3. Feathers – yes, Elmo is in fact afraid of any feathers lying about, and will peck at them vigorously to make them go away. However, if we hand him a feather he will most likely take it to his nest as bedding.

Other people have told me that their pigeons are afraid of sunglasses and towels on heads. What about yours?

Things Elmo likes to attack:

1. Toys
2. Pens
3. My toes
4. My hands

Bizarrely, Elmo loves my heels! He’ll coo to them romantically and do a little dance, however, if I show him my toes, he’ll attack them.

In January, 2010, I posted the following:

Davey has a mate – finally!!

I’m so happy to announce the romance between Davey and Jules!

The happy couple: Jules (left) and Davey (right)

If you don’t know about Davey’s plight please read: Once again, pigeon matchmaking

Last week I had to take Jules away from the aviary because one of the pigeons had pecked her and she was bleeding around her right eye. Thankfully, there was no damage done and after receiving pain relief medication and a few nights away to recover she was fine. While Jules recuperated I went into the resident aviary to see what could have been the problem and quickly identified that a lack of nesting sites was probably the main issue. A few of the flighted pigeons had taken up the hutches on the floor to nest in instead of using the nests on the shelves higher up, which left the flightless pigeons (from broken wings) no place to nest. So Jules had probably tried to go into one of the occupied hutches and was attacked.

I found some empty hutches and put them in the aviary and the nestless couples went to investigate the new properties.

Property to rent!

Button, who has a broken wing, and his flighted mate, Davina, decided the top hutch was the perfect spot to nest in. Button manages to get to the top hutch by hopping from the log to the hutch. They seem very happy together and I heard Davina’s loving coos to Button when I went to take a photo.

Davina (left) and Button (right) in their new home

Davey and Jules have taken up residency in the bottom hutch! Which means that every couple now has a place to nest in and peace should reign. … But pigeons can be such territorial little sods that I’m sure the males will be visiting each spot to see if it is better and if they can turf the occupiers out. C’est la vie!

I love this photo of Davey marching into his home to greet Jules:

Davey entering the hutch

Jules (left) and Davey (right)

I find it almost unbearable to listen to a single male pigeon coo desperately for a mate. It tugs at my heart. I must find the pigeon a mate!

In the resident pigeon aviary at work there are two single males and one single female pigeon. The female, Birdie, is not interested in pigeons at all, only humans, so she pretty much ignores the single males who were desperate to mate with her when she first arrived.

Button, one of the single boys, has been quite patient in his wait for a mate, but Davey boy, the other single boy, has been cooing and dancing every day in his attempt to attract a mate – or rather, to steal a mate from the other males.

So when two racing pigeons arrived at work in need of a home my hopes were raised that they were female. One laid an egg shortly after arriving, so she is obviously female. But we’re still not sure about the other one. Only one way to find out: Mix them with the others and see what happens!!

But let me tell you first about the confirmed female racing pigeon, whom I’ve named Davina.

Davina

She was brought to my work because of the “mess” she and her feral pigeon mate was making on a couple’s property. She hadn’t flown home after a race and had taken up residency in Kent with her new mate. The couple caught her and took her to Devon where they released her, hoping she would fly back to her original home. … She made it back to Kent before them. … For fear that something bad may happen to Davina if we released her, we made the decision to try her in Dora’s and Pidge’s aviary. Davina is a lovely blue bar and immediately paired up with Button, much to poor Davey’s annoyance. He tried so hard to woo her but she only had eyes for Button. Button is naturally extremely happy with his beautiful mate.

Button (left) and his new mate, Davina (right).

The second racing pigeon arrived with a broken wing, which is actually locked down in position and the pigeon cannot lift it at all at the moment. I’ve given the pigeon a unisex name: Jules.

Jules

When Jules was put into Dora’s aviary Davey was ecstatic. Have a look:

I’m praying that Jules is female and that she falls madly in love with Davey. He so deserves it!

Here’s a list of all the current resident pigeons (fancy or disabled) at my work:

After yesterday’s egg laying drama (please read: Valentine present) Georgie is happy sitting on the egg in her own nest. I guess we’ll get a second one tomorrow, although last time Georgie only layed one egg.

I do end up missing Georgie’s company and attention when she’s incubating but I know that it’s probably better for her psychologically to go through the motions than to interrupt her broodiness. She’s such a sweetheart (and sometimes a real pain!) and every day I’m in awe of my pigeons. They are amazing creatures and although their continuous pooping can be a real pain in the backside sometimes, their love and affection towards us is so inspiring.

So far we have captured on video Georgie laying an egg three times. Last year she had layed one in Elmo’s nest, but that time he was on the floor so he didn’t know it.

Here are the videos:

I would like to thank everyone for their amazing support after reading my last post, Under attack.

THANK YOU!!!

You’ve all been wonderful and lovely in your comments and views. The world is a much better place with you in it.

While I know in my heart that I’m doing the right thing to provide a safe and loving home for Elmo and Georgie and no one will be able to convince me otherwise, I feel a bit sad that someone else disagrees so much. It’s silly, really, to get upset about it when I know that there will always be someone who will not be able to understand what wonderful creatures pigeons are. When I look at my two darling pigeons I cannot help but think, “Who in their right mind would want to harm them?”

Elmo and Georgie send everyone their love!!

This is one of my favourite photos of Georgie snuggling up to me (photo taken in 2008):

Revati and Georgie

Elmo has such trust in us that he’ll fall fast asleep without a worry in the world:

Richard and Elmo