Laurence, Vivien and Love among the pigeons

          I’m a little worried. You know that urban myth about pigeons? About how you never see any baby ones? That they must therefore spring spontaneously, fully formed, from sidewalks and buildings, or perhaps split like amoebas to make more pigeons?

          Well, I found a pigeon nest.

          I was taking my cat out to the backyard for his morning roll (he leads me down the back stairs, through the garage, out to the yard, where he rolls all over the patio like a walrus, sniffs the roses, burrows through the lavender bush, bites at a few long tickly weeds, and then we go back inside). This morning for some reason instead of taking a left down the wooden stairs he bolted straight up to my neighbor’s back porch, and two pigeons immediately flew away in a loud snap of wings. I followed my cat up there.

          And that’s when I saw it. I blinked. If it wasn’t for the one teeny, poignant little egg in the middle of it, I would never have known it was a nest. They're clearly not avian architects, pigeons. It looks like someone smashed a garden hat down and laid an egg on it, or like a haphazard pile of hay sweepings. But this pair chose a pretty good spot for an urban nest, I suppose: it’s kind of a pigeon condo, in a way, right on my upstairs neighbors back porch tucked behind some potted plants.

          I snagged my cat by the scruff, startling him, and we went back downstairs, tip-toeing the whole way.

          I think I might have witnessed the whole courtship that led to the egg. In my neighborhood, houses are built very close together and fences are pretty low, and from my kitchen window I can see a patchwork of backyards stretching uphill. Right outside my kitchen window is my next-door neighbor’s tiny backyard, which is wild and messy in a nice way: masses of climbing, bright orange nasturtiums, a few roses, some shiny-leafed bushes, a scattering of feathery weeds, the kind my cat likes to bite. There’s also some kind of citrus tree that really needs watering and a few terra cotta pots. A white bathroom sink appeared for a time right smack in the middle of it all, which lent the yard a pleasantly surreal air, and then it disappeared again.

          I don’t see pigeons very often in my own yard, but pigeons seem to love this particular messy yard for some reason. Nearly every time I do the dishes I see a few of them there, amorously chasing each other around and around like that last scene in every Benny Hill episode (I amuse myself by imagining the theme music.) Every now and then one of the pigeons would allow itself to get caught and I would be treated to a birds-eye view of unabashed pigeon lovemaking. Sometimes I could hear them at it, too, when I was in other parts of the house, because they were LOUD. Coo…coo….COOOOOO!! Pretty funny, and sometimes a little embarrassing if I had company, because it sounded urgent and downright enthusiastic.

          And a week or so ago, as I was doing dishes, I saw a pigeon fly by with a long straw in its mouth toward my neighbor’s back porch. I wondered then. And now I know.

          I of course Googled pigeons, and I learned that the dad pigeon brings straws and twigs to the mom pigeon to build a nest, and they take turns sitting on the egg, dad during the day, mom at night. And I couldn’t help but think about it. How did they go about deciding where to build the nest? Was it a mutual decision? Did she perhaps prefer something in the ritzier Russian Hill area of San Francisco, but he thought the fog belt was a better place to raise a family? How did he go about choosing just the right straws and twigs? How do they know when a nest is done?

          Given that dad sits on the nest during the day, I know now that the male pigeon is gray and iridescent green, and the female pigeon is cream-colored and speckled. I’ve gone and given them names, (Laurence and Vivien) damn it, which means now I’m going to worry about them and the baby pigeon inside the egg. We have crows, BIG honkin’ Jurassic crows about a foot tall (I exaggerate not) around here, and I bet they would love to eat a pigeon egg.  I’m not worried about my cat. He only goes out escorted by me, and he’s never caught and eaten anything bigger than a fly, which usually comes right back up. But the happy pigeon couple did in general find a pretty clever spot in terms of shelter.

          I have a friend, a farm boy from Wisconsin, who makes fun of me because I get all excited about such things, and by watching birds in Golden Gate Park.  (I once heard a ruckus in the bushes at the park, and then two squirrels and a Bluejay came dashing out, and they were all carrying French fries. I wondered who got mugged for their fries. It was like they were working as a gang.) And it’s not like we didn’t have birds galore around when I was growing up in the suburbs. And I realize many people would argue that there’s no shortage of pigeons in San Francisco, and that they're the flies of the bird world, etc. Still, there’s something indomitable and sweet about that little egg, and this little pigeon world within a world. In eighteen days (I learned that part by Googling), with luck, there will be a new pigeon.
          Anybody else have a good bird story? What birds frequent your backyard? What do you see out your kitchen window?? :)

         

Comments

[Karen]

Hmmm. Out the kitchen door I see a ton of fat robins that have orange breasts - they don't have red breasts, and we used to have cute little fat quail. We have ginormous crows that are super loud too, and little hummingbirds and finches. Sometimes we'll have like 20 finches in our wisteria. Our cats go bonkers, salivating for those juicy little finches. They literally bonk the glass doors with their heads.

[Kathy in SM]

I only see my neighbor's back steps out my kitchen window. But I have a flowerbox and get an occasionally hummingbird, and I always feel a little blessed afterwards. They're amazing little things!

[Circe]

Pigeons get a bad rap! I know they are considered the rodents of the avian world, but they seem to be devoted, loving parents. Years ago I worked in Los Gatos in a building that had a small, 10 space parking garage beneath. As I drove in one Monday morning, I had to stop for two big pigeons standing in the middle of the garage floor. They wouldn't budge, and I cautiously drove around them. I found their behavior quite curious, as they usually goodnaturedly ceeded the right of way to incoming vehicles. As I emerged from my car, I could hear them mournfully cooing as they paced a tight circle on the garage floor. Deciding to investigate, I walked closer to the pair and my heart just about broke in half. On the floor of the garage was what was obviously the remains of a pigeon egg, smashed to smithereens on the cement floor: a tiny splash of yellow yolk littered with tiny pieces of shell. The mommy and daddy pigeons stared at me in what I can only describe as tremendous grief. Evidently, they had made their nest on the exposed pipes of the parking garage. Those pigeons continued to block traffic and coo mournfully for the rest of the week, grieving for their lost little one. All the tenants of the building were very respectful of their need to sit pigeon shiva, and I think we all had a newfound empathy for pigeons after that.

[Lillian S.]

Julie, what a cute story! I hope that egg makes it. What will you name it? :) I live in the city and I've never seen a pigeon nest, so this is enlightening. My view from the kitchen window is the street and a little grocery store across from me. I do see my share of pigeons out there. Circe made my throat lump up!! Dang her. LOL. Did anyone see that thing on PBS about chickens? Speaking of birds?

[WiscoFarmBoy]

Jules -

Keep your eyes on that nest. Pigeons ALWAYS lay two eggs. There should be another one along presently.

I can't believe you didn't name one of your pigeons "Walter!" SIGH! It was so wonderfully OBVIOUS.

BTW: The crows are a real problem, but probably not until after the eggs hatch. Apparently crows prefer squab to egg.

It took me a while to warm to the dark grey the pigeons are in San Francisco. I always thought they were darker here because of some selection because the city is dark - and then I realized that the pigeon are a lighter grey in Wisconsin because they have to deal with six months of snow!!

After watching them for twenty years, I am pretty fond of our city doves. Some of them have pretty hard lives.

Oh - I don't have a back door, but out my kitchen window I see Duboce Park - so I see lots of dogs and dog owners, and since I am on the second floor, I, too see the occasional hummingbird!!

Hope you enjoy your pigeon neighbors.

[Donna S.]

Julie, I just realized that you named the pigeons after Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, didn't you? :) If you have two baby pigeons, maybe you can name them Fred and Ginger. Or Clark and Carole. :)

[Julie Anne Long]

Kathy—I see hummingbirds in my yard pretty frequently. They're like...flying iridscent thumbs. LOL. Little fairy birds! I love them. Today is one of those rare, sunny July days here, and my garden is like a Disney cartoon, or something—filled with singing birds and butterflies and moths and flowers. LOL.

Lillian—I did see the chicken documentary on PBS. It was wonderful. I'm a sucker for just about any animal story.

Jeez, Circe, and Wisco Farm boy (squab?!? Eek! LOL), you're going to worry me even more! That's a beautful story, Circe. I think the eggs might hatch when I'm in Atlanta, so I have to warn my upstairs neighbors (who are on vacation) to keep an eye out for them. I haven't checked the nest for another egg yet—I don't want to frighten them off.

Walter PIgeon!! LOL. For some reason I gave them the name of lovers who ultimately parted. :) I don't know whether pigeons mate for life or not.

And You guessed it, Donna!! I don't know why those names came to me; they just popped into my head. If we get two baby pigeons, anybody else have any name suggestions?? (I like Clark and Carole. Liz and Dick?)

BTW, the anagram genius post down below still seems pretty active, so if y'all haven't checked it out, by all means go for it! keep the anagrams and the bird talk coming. :)

[Shirley]

How about Romulus and Remus for the baby pigeons, if you get two of them? If you're going for bygone movie stars, how about Spencer and Katherine? Bert and Ernie? :)

[Ranurgis]

Actually, this didn't happen in my backyard. Mostly around here we've got a concrete jungle. There is one little piece of grass about 2' wide and maybe 10' long where the dog upstairs does his business along the building next door to the west. All the rest of the greenery: trees, bushes and lawn to the south are fenced in--not even neatly--and protected by two vociferous guard dogs. If I just open my door and they are outside, they'll start barking like crazy just because they see that little slit of open door.

Anyway, one day about 2 months ago, I heard the birds outside in the parking lot on the east side of the building. I was really happy to hear them after the long winter. So I stepped up on my inverted drink crate to look outside. Here were the birds, chirping, singing, flying around, hopping, pecking in puddles. And then on the opposite wall I saw a couple of sparrows making out. The female was trying to build a nest while the male was hanging on to her back. Suddenly she wriggled free and flew off and I haven't seen them since. Unfortunately, I can't really look into their little place either to see whether they're actually down there but that was the first time I peeked...

LOL. It was funny. I wish they'd have come back. A robin once laid some eggs on the outside sill of my mother's bathroom window. Every once in a while we'd peek to see what was happening. About three weeks later, we looked out. The eggs were smashed and the nest partially destroyed. We suspect a squirrel of the massacre. We were so sad not to be able to see the little tiny birds as they hatched and grew. Mama robin had not built her nest in a safe area after all.

BTW, do pigeons always lay only one egg? If so, it's a wonder the pigeon population is so large. I remember that when we used to live more in a downtown area, the pigeons roosted high in a church near the next intersection from our house. You really had to take care not to get splattered.