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Posts Tagged ‘pigeons’

Pigeons Wearing Cowboy Hats

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 29, 2020| 2 Comments »

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Photo: Twitter/kassandraqueenn
Social media users have been reporting sightings of Las Vegas pigeons in hats since early December 2019.

The New Yorker magazine used to have a bottom-of-the-column feature called “There’ll always be an England,” which highlighted the quirkiness of that country. After you read the following story, you may want to recommend naming a feature “There’ll always be a Las Vegas.”

In December, the Guardian‘s Martin Belam reported on Las Vegas pigeons wearing hats.

“Two pigeons have been spotted in Las Vegas wearing tiny cowboy hats. While many have been amused by the sight of the birds, with social media users excitedly reporting sightings since a video was first posted to Facebook in early December, there are concerns for the welfare of the animals. …

“Mariah Hillman, who works with the local animal rescue charity Lofty Hopes, said the hats were glued on to the pigeons. ‘When we saw them today, you could see some loose feathers in the glue around the hat. It’s definitely a concern,’ she said. …

“Observers have named the two birds Cluck Norris and Coo-lamity Jane. Cluck Norris can be identified by the red hat he is wearing, as opposed to Coo-lamity Jane’s pink headgear. There are unconfirmed reports that a third pigeon has fallen victim to the trend and is sporting a brown hat. The Las Vegas Metropolitan police department told the New York Times it ‘does not appear to be a police matter at this time.’ …

“Hillman’s group has been attempting to capture the pigeons to remove the headgear, with little success so far. They said the birds had been difficult to trap as they were being fed repeatedly by people curious about their appearance, making luring them with food difficult.” More at the Guardian, here.

Meanwhile on Facebook, Lofty Hopes put up a message before Christmas to encourage animal lovers to make toys for their temporary residents: “Lofty Hopes is hosting a holiday get together to play Santa’s Helper and make toys for the many rescued pets who live here until they are adopted. Toys are an important part of their well-being and we want to provide new, enriching toys as gifts for the holidays.

“We will be purchasing all the toy parts such as bells, wood parts with holes pre-drilled, plastic chain pieces, etc. Come join us. This will be fun for all ages … We will be providing vegan hot chocolate.”

Want a follow-up? Check out the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where you will learn that Lofty Hopes, some volunteers, and a vet safely removed pigeon hats. Reporter Max Michor concludes with some tips: “Anyone who finds a sick or injured pigeon should first catch the bird to keep it from further harm, [Mariah Hillman, founder of the rescue group Lofty Hopes,] said. Humans can’t contract any diseases from touching a pigeon with their bare hands, she said, but a shirt or towel can be used to wrap and move the birds.

“Hillman said people should never try to force feed pigeons or drip water into their mouths, as they breathe through a hole under their tongue that can easily be blocked or filled with liquid.” Never say I don’t give you useful advice!

This is actually a Boston pigeon. We don’t do cowboy hats out East.

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Performance Art with 2,000 Pigeons

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2016| 4 Comments »

Pigeon performance art in New York is ruffling a few feathers, and no wonder. The pigeons failed to sign performance agreements.

Andy Newman reports at the New York Times, “No one asked 2,000 pigeons if they wanted to have lights strapped to their legs in the name of art. Nor did anyone ask the birds how they felt about being shooed from their homes at dusk and sent flying up to illuminate the Brooklyn sky.

“But whether Duke Riley’s avian-powered performance piece ‘Fly by Night‘ constitutes pigeon abuse is a more complicated question.

“More than 5,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling for the show, which opened May 7 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, to be closed. …

“Their charges: that the birds are terrified by the flapping plastic flag Mr. Riley waves to keep them flying; that it is unnatural to make pigeons fly at night, when they normally rest; and that between their poor night vision and the distractions of the moving lights, they could become disoriented and crash into the East River. …

“Before ‘Fly by Night’ opened, [however], the nonprofit arts group that organized it, Creative Time, asked the director of the Wild Bird Fund, Rita McMahon, to inspect. The fund, based on the Upper West Side, treats more than 2,000 sick and injured pigeons a year.

“ ‘Mixing art and animals is a very risky business,’ said Ms. McMahon, who is a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator, ‘but I was very impressed.’ The pigeons were healthy and well fed, their temporary homes beautiful and clean.

“ ‘I didn’t see any traumatized pigeons,’ she added. ‘You see them mating, courting, everything, all over the boat. I think that’s a pretty good sign.’

“ ‘Fly by Night’ runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until June 12, and the protesters say they will be out every night for the rest of the run.”

More here.

Photo: Byron Smith for The New York Times  
Duke Riley’s “Fly by Night” performance piece features more than 2,000 trained pigeons with LEDs attached to their legs.

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Pigeon Breeders Don’t See Race

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

An April NY Times article by Joseph Berger focused on the egalitarian, colorblind brotherhood of pigeon breeders.

“When New Yorkers consider the subculture of people who raise pigeons on rooftops, many are likely to think of Terry Malloy, the longshoreman in the 1954 film ‘On the Waterfront’ played by Marlon Brando. He was a classic rooftop breeder, rough-hewed, working-class and white ethnic to his toes.

“But that image has long needed some alteration because in the dwindling world of rooftop fliers, as they are known, the men are as likely to be working-class blacks or Hispanics. Many were introduced to the hobby by Irish, Italian and other fliers of European descent …

“Ike Jones, an African-American who manages one of the last pigeon supply stores for its Italian-Jewish owner, Joey Scott, said he learned much of the craft when he was about 12. He then became a helper to George Coppola, an Italian rooftop breeder in Bedford-Stuyvesant. …

“A new book, ‘The Global Pigeon,’ by Colin Jerolmack, an assistant professor of sociology at New York University who spent three years hanging out with pigeon fliers, makes the point that pigeon breeding brought Italian-Americans and other ethnic whites ‘into contact with people of a different ethnic and age cohort with whom they were not voluntarily associating before.’ ” More.

For another take on the rarefied world of pigeon lovers, read A Pigeon and a Boy, which I blogged about here. A wonderful book in many ways, I thought the ending bizarre and so can’t give it five stars. But I liked how it wove the world of pigeon raising and message sending into the whole modern history of Israel. (If you should happen to read it, please explain the ending to me.)

Photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Delroy Sampson breeds his own birds.

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