Visiting My Fancy Pigeons
It's always nice to see my pigeons outside their dovecote enjoying the warm summer breezes.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I keep a small group of pigeons - Homers, Tipplers, Tumblers, as well as one of the oldest breeds, the Syrian Damascene. They live in a pen adjacent to my geese and peafowl yards and across from my stable. Pigeons have been domesticated for thousands of years and have been kept by people worldwide for their companionship, their sport, and their loyal service. Caring for these birds is a nice way to pay tribute to these fascinating and intelligent creatures.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I currently have 40 pigeons housed behind one side of my Linden Allee and right next to my peafowl and geese. The dovecote is the perfect size for these fancy homing birds and the enclosure gives them lots of room to fly.
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- My Bedford flock started with 10-pairs of birds, which included breeds such as Dunn Tipplers, Egyptian Swifts, Damascenes, and Isabella Tipplers. The dark Egyptian Swift is known for its long tail, long wings, and short beak.
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- Fancy pigeons are domesticated varieties of the wild rock dove, bred by pigeon fanciers for size, shape, color, and behavior.
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- They love to perch atop the branches waiting for visitors. We “planted” this tree inside their enclosure. Pigeons also have excellent hearing. They can detect sounds at far lower frequencies than humans, and can hear distant storms and volcanoes.
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- We also made this ladder – I always provide all my birds with multiple places to roost. The pigeons love to sit on the rungs and watch the neighboring peafowl and geese.
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- The entire coop is well protected from aerial predators. Here is a group of pigeons enjoying the views from the roof. Notice the protective fencing above them. An adult pigeon is about 13 inches in length and can weigh up to 20 ounces. The one in the front is an Isabella Tippler.
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- Pigeons are thought to navigate by sensing the earth’s magnetic field and using the sun for direction. Other theories include the use of roads and even low-frequency seismic waves to find their way. This pigeon is a Dunn Tippler, known to be very adept at staying in flight for hours without stopping.
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- Inside is a wall of nesting spaces. Pigeons mate for life and both female and male pigeons share the responsibility of caring for and raising their young. They take turns incubating the eggs and both feed the chicks ‘pigeon milk’ – a special secretion from the lining of the crop which both sexes can produce.
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- On the other side, we made another suitable ladder out of felled branches found right here at the farm. The pigeons love to perch on it and on nearby ledges during the day. Pigeons also breed all year round with peak breeding periods in spring and summer.
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- This white bird is a Homer – among the most famous pigeon breeds. Homers come in a variety of colors and have a remarkable ability to find their way home from very long distances. Although they love to roost, pigeons can fly at altitudes of 6000-feet or more. Pigeons can also fly at average speeds of up to 77-miles per hour.
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- Pigeons are very docile, gentle and sweet-natured birds – everyone at the farm loves visiting them.
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- Here is a mating pair perched on the roof – able to see everything around them from this vantage point. These are Old German Owl pigeons – a breed of fancy pigeon, and the originator of the short faced German Shield Owls. The head is round, broad, with a well arched forehead and a small full shell crest, which is made of feathers that grow up toward the head rather than down along the body.
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- I love the wide range of colors and markings on these birds. Do you know… a group of pigeons is called a flight or a flock. And a baby pigeon is called a squab.
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- Pigeons are very observant and one of the most intelligent of all the bird species.
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- And like humans, pigeons can see in color, but they can also see ultraviolet light, a part of the spectrum that humans cannot see. As a result, pigeons are often used in search and rescue missions at sea.
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- Pigeons have side-mounted eyes. Because pigeons have monocular vision rather than binocular vision, they bob their heads when they move so they have depth perception.
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- Pigeons are very social animals. They will often be seen in flocks of 20 to 30 birds.
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- The pigeon is a granivorous bird – they like to eat seeds and cereal grains, sunflower, wheat, barley, millet and peas.
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- A pigeon’s diet contains about 50-percent grain crops, and 10-percent oilseed, rich in vitamins B and E. An average adult-sized pigeon can eat about 30-grams of food each day. Pigeons, and all the columbidae family, drink by sucking water and using their beaks like straws. Like all our birds, we make sure the pigeons always have fresh food and water.
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- Oftentimes, pigeons of the same breed will stay close together.
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- These pigeons are watching all the farm activity, perhaps waiting for dinner. Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I always enjoy teaching visitors about the many birds I keep – the peafowl, the Guinea fowl, the geese, the chickens, and of course, these pigeons. I am so pleased my pigeons continue to thrive here at Cantitoe Corners.
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