With hours to kill recently in an Algarve city, I walked around the cobblestone streets looking for inspiration for this month’s article. I saw an interesting church and remarkable architecture, but when I saw an elderly lady in the street with fish heads and guts in her hands I had to stop.
She was feeding some cats hiding under a car. Behind her were many pigeons on a tiny triangle of grass eating cooked rice that she had just fed them. I could not resist chatting to her. Subsequently, I have discovered that it can be illegal to feed pigeons and so, sadly, I have opted to not print her photograph and name just in case!
I will call her Maria, and she told me that she had been feeding the pigeons every day for over 50 years. “The pigeons need fresh water and food daily as do the seagulls which will be arriving soon,” she explained.
As I looked up, some seagulls were expectantly looking down from the roofs. “We will have to stand back as the seagulls are rather shy.” Maria said as she threw down some sardine heads. The seagulls quickly swooped, each taking a head, and I was struck by how much pleasure this octogenarian lady had each day by feeding the local birds.
Maria told me she also walks every day to the local cemetery to feed the resident cat colonies and she used to cook rice and tinned fish for them until packet food became available. Is she a hero for feeding these wild animals or is she encouraging them to become urban pests?
Pigeons are often seen as vermin and a nuisance in urban areas, which is why it can be against the law to feed them, for it encourages residency and breeding of huge flocks. Yet, pigeons bring a lot of pleasure to people like Maria and those seen feeding and standing happily amongst city pigeons.
There are hundreds of pigeon breeds with urban ones known as feral pigeons. They descended from domesticated pigeons that returned to the wild.
Often labelled as ‘flying rats’ by those who feel they are noisy, invasive and unhygienic, pigeons frequently groom themselves to stay clean and healthy, and play a crucial role in balancing the urban ecosystems. They aid the spreading and propagation of seeds (through their droppings), consume vermin and insects, and also clean the environment by eating foodstuff littering the streets.
Both parents build the nests and look after the chicks. Nests are built in bridge arches, roofs or empty buildings. It is the huge accumulation of their acidic droppings (almost 12 kilos a year each) which eventually causes corrosion of the buildings and unfortunately pigeons can also spread zoonotic diseases to humans.
Did you know that to manage pigeon overpopulation, many councils use techniques such as capture and release elsewhere, forbid feeding, spike food with contraception, take eggs from nests and release predators such as hawks and falcons into the environment.
Ignoring the overcrowding issue, it is important to remember that having been domesticated thousands of years ago, pigeons have always had a close relationship with man, serving various purposes such as messengers, providing meat and eggs and being kept for racing and showing.
Pigeons are also symbolic. Due to their monogamous paring and lifelong loyalty, they depict love and also peace, represented as a white dove in art, literature and Christianity. Ancient Egyptians revered them as sacred. In Islam, the pigeon is a symbol of purity, and in Buddhism, it represents compassion.
However, it is their role as messengers that merits them the utmost respect. Due to their amazing ability to find their way home from huge distances away, man has, since early times, used pigeons to relay messages strapped to their legs or in small canisters.
Scientists are still uncertain how pigeons navigate. Theories include that they use the moon and sun, they recognise landmarks, use the earth’s magnetic field or maybe navigate through sound and smell in the environment.
Homing pigeons differ from carrier pigeons, although both are bred originally from the rock pigeon. Nowadays, carrier pigeons are bred for their beauty and homing pigeons for their speed (flying at 96 kph), agility and long distance flying which is why these have been used to carry messages.
During the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, every athlete had his own pigeon so that he could send news home if he won his event. Pigeons delivered messages during the Mesopotamia wars, were used by Julius Caesar and by Indian and Arab merchants.
During the Paris siege of 1870-71, pigeons carried messages throughout France. In New Zealand in 1896, a commercial pigeon post was used to send messages from/to the Great Barrier Island and mainland Auckland. Postage stamps from this time are very coveted by collectors.
In 1915, on the western front, a special Pigeon Corps was established with over 22,000 pigeons and 400 men to relay messages between intelligence services and the resistance movements in Europe.
In WWII, pigeons were again used in Europe, Burma and India leading to special German marksmen being trained to shoot them down. Aircraft and boats carried pigeons to be released in the event of a crash or sinking, detailing the crafts’ location, which led to the successful rescue of many crew members.
One of the most amazing stories I read was that of a pigeon called Cher Ami who, in 1918, delivered a message from stranded American soldiers, cut off from the rest of their army, trapped behind German lines and who were inadvertently being bombarded by their own troops.
Cher Ami was shot and fell to earth but recovered, flying the remaining 40 kms despite being wounded with a bullet hole in his chest, partly blinded and with one leg almost severed. Thanks to this brave little pigeon, the battalion of 194 men were saved and, when Cher Ami died in 1919, his body was preserved in the Smithsonian Institution.
Pigeons have also been used for reconnaissance, wearing cameras that helped armies plan strategies and to locate enemy troops. In the 1970s and 1980s, they were invaluable during natural disasters, flying through adverse weather to pass on essential messages.
I have no doubt that Maria finds joy, companionship and fulfilment in the simple yet profound connection she shares with these creatures during her daily feeding routines. Perhaps they give her a sense of purpose. So, the next time you see a pigeon, think about how this small bird has served its duty to mankind.
So now you know!
By Isobel Costa
|| features@algarveresident.com
Isobel Costa works full time and lives on a farm with a variety of pet animals! In her spare time, she enjoys photography, researching and writing.
