I have always been fascinated by these feathered fellas , they seem to have an amazing survival technique and are such fun to observe !
I have spent many an evening at Trafalgar square admiring these naughty birds .They always seem to gather around in a hungry bunch whenever they see anyone eating anything at all, not only are they super swift in swooping down at lightning speed to pick up the crumbs as I nervously and rather hungrily gobble my sandwich on a wooden bench watching the fountain and watching the pigeons too from the corner of my eye …. lest they attack me and steal away my meal deal , gosh with a few coins left in my purse ,couldn’t afford another !
Burping and satisfied after a sandwich,crisp and drink meal later , I lazily lounge on the bench as the birds curiously walk around my feet and search under the bench for more crumbs , they then fly to the top of the statue and perch there. I wonder how they always find such prolific locations to poo on !
I have therefore pldeged never to work hard enough to become so famous that after I fall dead someone thinks of erecting a statue of me somewhere, imagine I’d become an instantly popular new ”poop spot” for pigeons,not a pleasant thought that is it?
I always avoided KABOOTAR KHANA at Dadar as much as I could cause the very thought of a zillion pigeons gathered in one place to eat grains donated by willing masses and poop all over the place later ,though may sound ideal to any pigeon , I always feared what if they all decided to gang up against us humans and peck out everyone’s eye balls for fun ? shiver shudder shake shake …. brrr scary thought that .(KABOOTAR KHANA , KABOOTAR in Hindi Language means a Pigeon, can you imagine that in a city like Mumbai , we have a place named after Pigeons and a whole area dedicated to the, isn’t that proof enough for how powerful and omnipresent they are ??!)
(best ever image of Kabootar Khana is taken by Humayunna Peerzaada and is available to be viewed on at the following flickr link – http://www.flickr.com/photos/humayunnapeerzaada/471662046/ ) ( I love all the other albums in his link as well , amazing photography I must say !)
Theres another way I entertain myself while I wait at bus stops (during the Olympics I shall have to do that more frequently me thinks 😉 !!) ,at any given point of time there is always a small group of busy pigeons strutting their feathers near the bus stop, walking around the bin which is always there next to the stop and trying to snuggle up between people’s feet ,maybe to keep warm?
If you observe pigeons on Oxford Street for example I swear , they are busy chatting amongst themselves and checking out the millions of tourists walking all over the place .Whenever I am crossing the road at the main signal at the 4 exits out of Oxford street tube station there will always be a bunch of pigeons walking yes WALKING alongside us humans crossing the road , now why on earth do they do that ?? You have wings fellas remember ??They almost obediently wait for the signal , all the time tilting their neck to one side as if to say ” What ya looking at woman , keep your eyes on the signal will you ?” as soon the signal turns green there they are marching alongside oblivious to the thousands of feet stamping nearby. At times I swear I saw one of the naughtier ones trying to tilt its neck and peek up a womans’ skirt ! Just as it was able to , another pigeon came over and nudged Mr.Peea-Kaboo hard enough , they both then majestically walked away pretending as if nothing had happened ! HA ! Little did they know that I had SEEN their dirty little trick humphfh !Naughty little perverts !
Not to mention the clever ”KABOOTAR’S” that I have encountered in India . They even have an entire song dedicated to them in one famous hindi flick , yes yes it’s true, here’s the link !
This song is proof that Pigeon Mail is faster ,more reliable and more affordable than posting letters at least for our Bollywood stars.This is just one song , there are many more such songs where the pigeons have pivotal roles that get the other actors in lead roles together for a happily ever after end …hummmm
And then I have this pal who now is wiser after studying a few more years but has a passion for breeding ‘homing’pigeons , yes yes and yes , he was rather good with it too.After all they always came back ‘home’ AFTER they were sold 😉
Now with all these observations over the past many years I am sure that pigeons world-wide have some sort of an internationally recognised body run and functioning solely supported by pigeons alone wherein they plan and strategize survival techniques against the growing atrocities by us humans .
Given their amazing ability to stay warm in harsh winters, feed themselves and maintain their population at a constant healthy number ,they are doing a marvellous job at it !
I am never short of opportunities to click snaps of pigeons cosying up, here’s just one such example….
But the most amazing incident by a pigeon in London that I witnessed left me utterly speechless and CONVINCED that pigeons really ARE very, very smart ….on a dreary day in London (even a bright sunny day can turn dreary especially if you have a day out planned!) this pigeon STOOD alongside several passengers on a busy platform and actually BOARDED the train after us humans **gasp,gulp,gasp*
Then it proceeded to strut under a seat and peck at errant food particles dropped by a messy teenager who had just wolfed down a LARGE sandwich.About 2 stations after this clever bird had BOARDED the train it looked left and right when the door opened at a station,made some cooing sounds and HOPPED off ! GAWD, if I hadn’t consumed coffee that morning I would have certainly slipped into a coma.It definitely beats flying in rainy weather I’d say and ticketkless too.TFL , are you listening?! Guess not…baaah!
Ah well, I better get back to life now and observing more of my feathered companions along the way 😉 Adios !
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