Visiting My Pigeons at the Farm
The pigeons continue to thrive at my Bedford, New York farm.
As many of you know, I added 20-fancy pigeons to my Bedford flock last year. Many of the birds were featured in the well known New York City “Fly by Night” performance by artist, Duke Riley, and were members of Duke’s personal flock. And now, a small group of them lives here at the farm. Earlier this summer, I moved them from their coop near the chicken yard to a larger enclosure adjacent to my peafowl pen. I am happy to report - they are all healthy, happy and having a wonderful time.
Here are some of the latest photos - enjoy.
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- The pigeons are now housed in this coop across from my stable – it is the perfect size for my fancy homing pigeons and gives them lots of room to fly and roost.
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- They love to perch atop the doorway waiting for visitors. The entire enclosure is covered with a net to protect them from predators.
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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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- My Bedford flock started with 10-pairs of birds, which included breeds such as Dunn Tipplers, Egyptian Swifts, Damascenes, and Isabella Tipplers.
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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.
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- The Damascene pigeon is thought to have originated in Damascus, Syria. It is loved for its beauty and companionship – it is even believed that the Damascene was an avian companion to the prophet, Muhammed.
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- The pigeons love sitting on the bottom half of the Dutch door to their coop. 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.
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- Inside the coop, we created an entire wall of nesting spaces. Pigeons mate for life, and both female and male pigeons share responsibility of caring for and raising their young.
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- Pigeons also breed all year round with peak breeding periods in spring and summer.
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- Oftentimes, pigeons of the same breed will stay close together – here is a pair of Dunn Tipplers.
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- This is a beautiful Isabella Tippler. The tippler is a breed of domestic pigeon bred for endurance. Some of them have been known to fly for up to 22-hours non-stop. 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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- All birds roost and all my birds have lots of perches made out of felled branches found right here at the farm. The pigeons love to perch during the day.
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- This Dunn Tippler loves watching all the activity. Pigeons are very observant and one of the most intelligent of all the bird species.
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- Pigeons are very docile, gentle and sweet natured birds. Everyone at the farm loves to visit with them.
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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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- The pigeon has side-mounted eyes. Because pigeons have monocular vision rather than binocular vision, they bob their heads when they move for depth of perception. This one is showing his tail feathers, which are set wide and rounded.
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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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- I just love the wide range of colors and markings on these fancy pigeons.
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- These are dark Egyptian Swifts known for the long tails, long wings and short beaks.
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- A pigeon’s diet contains about 50-percent grain crops, and 10-percent oil seed, rich in vitamins B and E. An average adult sized pigeon can eat about 30-grams of food each day. Like all our birds, we make sure the pigeons always have fresh food and water.
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- On the back side of the enclosure is a long natural perch, where many of the birds love to spend time. Here are four pigeons facing the allee of lindens – I wonder what they are watching.
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- This pigeon is in the window of the coop. I am so pleased with how well they are doing here. See you later, my dear birds.
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