Lovey-Dovey

tanjabrittonwriter 51 Comments

While the colorful fall foliage in these photos proves that they are not recent (I took them in November 2022), this pair of loving Rock Pigeons immediately made me think of Valentine’s Day, and I set their images aside for future use.

At first, the two birds were on opposite ends on top of the street light, but the larger male slowly inched toward the female.

He commenced to gently groom her head…

…and she expressed her pleasure by closing her eyes, and by cooing softly.

In the end, they nodded off together with him resting his head on her back. Very touching.

All of us have likely been in love at some point and, if we are lucky, still are. Or we have close family or friends who mean a lot to us. And whether or not we celebrate what has become a very commercialized holiday, it never hurts to tell our loved ones how we feel about them, and not only on one designated day. In that spirit:

Happy Valentine’s Day.

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PS: My last post one week ago engendered a few questions about Rock Pigeons. Most Rock Pigeons we see today in Europe and the Americas are feral versions of domestic ancestors.

According to Cornell’s Birds of he World: “Wild Rock Pigeons, native to Europe, North Africa, and western, southwestern, west-central, and southern Asia, gave rise to domestics as a result of artificial selection by humans. Domestics readily go feral, and have done so widely throughout the world. Introduced to North America in the early 17th-century by colonists who brought domestic pigeons to Atlantic coast settlements, the Rock Pigeon (formerly the Rock Dove) is now feral and lives broadly on the continent.”

51 thoughts on “Lovey-Dovey”

  2. What a fine, attentive fellow, she’s very lucky to have him as her admirer! Here, as spring approaches, our local Wood Pigeons are getting frisky. Well, the male is anyway, but the female wants nothing to do with him and is playing hard to get. Hopefully he’ll learn some manners (from what I’ve seen of his antics recently he currently has none at all!) and behave more like the one in your photo.

    Here’s wishing you all the best for a lovely Valentine’s Day.

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    • Thank you, Mr. P. I hope you and Mrs. P enjoyed your Valentine’s Day as well.

      I suspect that your Wood Pigeons are not alone in developing spring fever. It will be fun to watch the birds and bees once it gets a little warmer. 😊

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      • Our local male Blackbird has been notably quiet over the winter, but over the last few days he’s started to sing again, belting out a song at dawn each morning, no doubt with the intention of proclaiming his territory and wooing his lady. Spring is clearly in the air!

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    • Thank you for your rhyme,
      For this blog of mine.
      With regard to religions,
      It is true that doves and pigeons,
      Alongside other avian delight,
      The strings of heart and soul ignite.
      And if my heaven I can choose,
      Birds will be my own true muse.

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  4. Sweet! A happy Valentine’s Day to you. Thanks for the explanation of the pigeons. They certainly have thrived, haven’t they. In our little town, I like watching them fly together, the way they swerve and swoop in unison.

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  15. I so enjoy watching the relationships that develop among birds. The bonds between dove parents and young are often quite tender, too. I was able to witness dove parents leaving a youngster on my balcony for its first night alone; I worried myself silly, until the parents came back the next day to collect their babe. They repeated the ritual for three nights, until finally the ‘baby’ no longer perched on the rail, waiting for mom and dad, but flew off at sunset to roost on its own.

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    • Being able to watch the bond between a pair, or a pair and their offspring, is very joyful and instructive, but can also be nerve-wracking. I, too, have worried about seemingly abandoned bird babies, only to watch their eventual successful transition into independence. You are fortunate to have had a nest so near, and to watch the entire cycle from your own living quarters.

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    • Thank you, Takami. These pigeons are not necessarily beloved by everybody, but they are amazingly resilient and adaptable, making a living however and wherever they can. Watching these two exchange such tender gestures was very moving.

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  18. We have a threesome of woodpigeons here – I suspect it’s a couple and a sibling that lost its partner a few years ago. (Sadly the partner got one of its feet entangled in fishing line and then got caught up in a neighbouring tree – poor thing was dead when I found it.)

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    • We enjoyed a little Nordic skiing on Valentine’s day, which was fun, since we hadn’t been able to for a number of years beforehand. I hope your day was special also.
      I haven’t been birding long enough to know the birds as Rock Doves, so I have never had to adjust, but I understand how it is to get attached to a name, and then have to relearn it. Sorry nobody asked for your opinion. 😊

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  21. Considering that some birds mate for life and grieve over the loss of a partner they surely do seem to be capable of love. Your love bird look like good examples.
    Happy Valentines day 10 days late, Tanja. Hope yours was delightful.

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    • That’s a great observation, Steve. I have no doubt in my mind that animals experience love.
      I thank you for the good wishes. Since every day should be Valentine’s Day, one can’t really be too late. But I hope the day was special for you as well.

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    • Thank you for sharing the link, Steve. I’m familiar with all the birds featured in the post, get to see all of them each time I visit Germany, except for the firecrest, which I have only seen on a few occasions.

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