The Flying Wallendas … I Mean, Pijendas

I’m a sucker for pigeons. I loved them long before Hugh and I rescued a couple of lost racing pigeons, and I continue to love them long after.

People who’ve never observed pigeons will marvel when they first notice how pigeons out-maneuver Peregrines in harrowing chases. These birds, whose ancestors sprang from the cliffs alongside their evolutionary partners, the falcons, have a lineage that transcends their humble reputation.

• They’ve been war messengers, like Cher Ami.
• They were inspiration for Darwin’s evolutionary studies.
• They navigate home using a complex compass that includes the sun and magnetic fields. They can count.
• They are devoted parents and partners.
• They are stubborn but facile, determined but flexible.

Nowhere is their agility more apparent than on a high wire, where a flock of pigeons will fight to hold on to an uncertain perch, and exhaust all  possibilities.

I shot these images on a windy day, where large pigeon feet grappled with thin wires … and where tail rudders and flaps kept these birds from spinning around the wires like magnetic gyro wheels.

This sequence shows the maneuvers inherent in staying aloft … pigeon style.

Airport navigation, pigeon style: “All Gates Occupied,” or, as a Facebook friend of mine suggested … O’Hare for pigeons: