The most common bird in our housing colony is the ubiquitous pigeon, or as is correct from a species standpoint — the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia). I carried out a partial count of these birds in our society a few months ago and I came up with the number of thirty pigeons, though it’s my belief that the actual number is possibly twice this, exceeding the number of sparrows here. The rock pigeons (sometimes also called rock doves) are native to Europe, Africa and South Asia, but have spread, along with the House Sparrow, to virtually every city in the world. They are found almost everywhere that humans are present.
The reason pigeons are at the top of my mind is because they are bothering me all the time! They are nesting in my house at various places, and their constant ‘cooing’ buzzes in my head all day long. I do a lot of writing, and every now and then while I am writing, I have ‘coo, coo, coo….’ in my head, instead of a lovely story about nature! Just this afternoon, the vexed issue of pigeons, once again, reared its head. We have a covered balcony in our house that we use as a storeroom. This room has a metal roof with rafters — an ideal location for pigeons to nest.
Pigeons, unlike us humans, are happy-go-lucky birds. No fancy houses for them. The pigeon’s flimsy nest usually consists of a few twigs and branches, untidily clustered together. Each time I see a pigeon’s nest, I wonder how it can lay eggs and rear young ones in the precariously positioned nest. In fact, the flimsy nest results in lots of eggs falling out. The pigeons make up for their poor housing standards by nesting throughout the year. This translates into more cooing to listen to!
The only problem I have with pigeons nesting in our storeroom is that, on occasion they fall into the room and cannot escape. The trapped pigeons are usually chased and hunted down by our pet cat Tiger.
Occasionally, a young nestling falls into the room, and invariably dies due to an unavailability of food. A regular attempt to catch the pigeons and release them usually results in chaos — with my wife, our cat, the pigeon and I creating mayhem in the small, enclosed storeroom! To top this, bird shit litters the room, and the smell that we encounter when we enter the storeroom after a gap of a few days, normally results in a hasty retreat till the mess in the room is cleaned up!
To sort out this vexed issue, my wife suggested we board up the gap in the roof, in order to ensure safety for the pigeons and sanity for us! This morning, I finally called in the carpenters to do the needful. Soon, the carpenters were back, knocking on my door. “The pigeons are still nesting!” they said. “Not only are there young ones, but also a few eggs. How can we board them up?”
I am a bird lover. How can I disturb the pigeons? So, once again, the pigeons have won, and their nesting site remains untouched as I get back to my cooing… oops… sorry writing!
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