Global Pigeons
If you didn’t know, Rachel really likes pigeons. There are so many colour variations! And they do science about that which is neat. Humans have been buddies with pigeons for at least 5000 years and counting.
Some of the amazing things we've learned about pigeons: Picasso loved, raised, and drew 'em; he even named his child Paloma, which means ‘dove’ in Spanish. And then there are the fancy pigeons, like the fancy mice, who have been bred into hundreds of variations on size, shape and colour. Of course the poor things suffer from health disorders, just like pugs whose eyes fall out.
Pigeons have been our constant companions, from the beautiful birds of Barcelona to the comforting cooers of Kathmandu. As Rachel snatched stretches of rest between bathroom runs, we could hear the pigeons gently calling from our windowsill. Noise insulation was not a thing in Nepal.
We found flamboyant pigeons in a park in Barcelona, and cold pigeons huddled against ancient brickwork in Athens. [📸 Rachel].
We also learned that mesh window screens are not just to keep the bugs out. In Bath, England, we returned to our peaceful hostel room only to be jump-scared by the pigeon perched on top of the wardrobe. Luckily, it didn’t want to be friends and took a hasty leave.
Staying in Pigeon Valley in Cappadocia, Turkey, we explored the many dovecotes carved into the soft rock. In one excavated church, the amplified thundering of pigeons reverberated throughout the constructed cavern.
In the vaulted ceilings of this underground, carved church, the cooing of the pigeons that had previously been so comforting in Kathmandu became thunderous and menacing. [📸 Rachel & Johann]
In Ushuaia, we learned of the thousands of dead pigeons they pulled out of the old prison roof during renovations. RIP.
We were mesmerized by the shining green accents on the plumage of a South African pigeon relative (the emerald-spotted wood dove). The red-rimmed eye of another species gave a convincing impression of pink eye (the red-eyed dove).
The red-eyed dove was fresh from stealing corned beef from our skottle skaar at the Timbavati picnic site in the Kruger National Park. Every emerald-spotted wood dove we met, meanwhile, was much more polite and demure. [📸 Johann & Rachel]
And to our eternal comfort, soon we shall return to the pigeons of Canada. To all our new found pigeon friends from around the world, we send our love. Coo-coo-coo!
