WHAT'S THAT COOING I HEAR? ( 6/09/00)

This spring has brought interesting birds to many a Cape Codder’s back yard. Fortunate were those who hosted stunning scarlet tanagers, birds uncommon on the Cape. Of equal beauty were the many rose-breasted grosbeaks reported widely throughout our area, along with the intensely blue indigo buntings. What a colorful trio to frequent our yards! Thanks to everyone who took the time to let me know about these rare visitors.

On an entirely different note are birds you’ve probably fed somewhere in a park or seen by the droves in fields around farms. Quite probably as you have barreled along an interstate, you may not have noticed redtailed hawks sitting on bare limbs of trees or kestrels on roadside wires, but I’ll bet that you have not missed the birds that congregate on and around the plethora of bridges.

What am I talking about? Pigeons or rock doves (their upscale name). Some people love them, others regard them as dirty and seedy-looking, and they have definitely ruffled a lot of feathers in Provincetown of late. They figure in every painting of St. Mark’s Square in Venice and are part of the urban scene around the world, including the Hawaiian Islands and parts of the West Indies.

They are universally recognized, although their patterns of blue to gray color vary from bird to bird. They may be either drab or brightly colored and usually have some iridescent feathers. All pigeons and doves have dense plumage, but the feathers are set loosely and fall out easily. Males and females have similar appearances, though the females may be duller. Both pigeons and doves are members of the family Columbidae. Generally, the term pigeons is used for larger members of the family with more square or rounded tails, and dove is used for the smaller members that have pointed tails.The feral pigeon is one of several breeds of rock pigeon, Columba livia.

The rock dove was apparently the first bird to be domesticated about 4500 B.C and was used as food by Egyptians as far back as 2600 BC. Pigeons’ outstanding homing capabilities whereby they use the sun or the earth's magnetic field to return to their home roosts was recognized so long ago that they are credited with delivering messages in the times of Caesar and Napoleon. In some Islamic countries, pigeons and doves were once protected on religious grounds but were traded commercially in other lands.

“Our” pigeon was first introduced into North America by the French at Port Royal, Nova Scotia, in 1606 are now found in every city, town and rural area — generally wherever humans are close by. They are not migratory and are all-around adaptable birds. They feed on fruits, seeds, berries, grain, green leaves and small insects, but are also quick to accept goodies that people provide such as bread crumbs, popcorn, peanuts and cake.

Besides the advantage of handouts, city life provides building ledges, air conditioners, rafters, beams and bridges as nesting sites. Courtship behaviors of pigeons may include different cooings or booming calls. They build nests of sticks, twigs and grasses and prefer to breed and roost in groups since they are quite social. Most pigeons and doves lay one to two white eggs in a weak nest made out of twigs and rootlets. Both males and females incubate the eggs which may take as little as twelve days to hatch.

Their hatchlings are helpless, blind and downy. Both parents feed the young within two hours of their hatching with regurgitated "crop milk,” also known as “pigeon milk,” a high fat, high protein, cheesy product produced by the adults. They are the only birds besides the flamingo to produce this milk like secretion very similar in consistency and function to that of mammals. The young are closely brooded for seven days by attentive parents and are able to fly 35 to 37 days after hatching. By the time they leave the nest, they'll be about the same size as the adults. When people eat squab (the culinary term for young pigeons), that's when they take 'em — when they're nice, plump and tender!

If all's going along well with the first nest, they'll build another, right near by, and lay the next batch. They'll take turns sitting on the next set, while the other feeds the squabs. And they'll do that four to six times a season. So, not only are there baby pigeons, there are baby-pigeon assembly lines.

Although pigeons are regarded as pests by many city dwellers because they foul the areas where they nest and roost and are considered to be the cause of disease, they have several unique qualities in the bird world. In addition to producing “milk,” they drink with their beaks underwater, actually sucking water through the nostrils, much like using a straw. Most other birds drink by dipping their bills into the water, collecting it in their bill, and then tilting their head back to let the water flow down their throat.

Rock doves, I have found, when observed in their original environment, appear quite different from their city cousins The first time I saw pigeons in a really wild state was in a remote canyon in Utah. At first, I couldn’t believe that these were the same birds that exploit the many advantages that urban areas offer. They were truly wild birds, nesting on cliffs and having absolutely nothing to do with people.

Whether you want to love them or leave them, pigeons and doves are interesting to study.