The return of Snooker, and pigeon pox, amongst the Central Library flock.

Readers who have been following along, recently, would recall that Snooker had been missing from the DTLA Central Library's pigeon flock, whereas he had been a favorite amongst the pigeons, there, since he is a uniquely-colored bird, and, therefore, important to the flock's genetic development in to becoming fancy birds, as a Pakistani High Flyer breed pigeon. 

I noticed that Snooker had finally returned to his regular perch, after seeming to be absent for over a week, from the Library flock.

Snooker was the first, amongst the flock, today, to swoop down and await their meal. I had peanut butter and jelly with marshmallow creme sandwiches and water ready for them, today, and I'd been on the lookout for Snooker to return, since it would seem unlikely that he would go missing, permanently. 

The DTLA Los Angeles Public Library Central Branch's pigeon ledge, out on 5th St, featuring the pigeon flock.

Another update, with regards to the flock, is that another bird had caught pigeon pox, which appears to be the name of the condition wherein the infected birds develop large ulcers on their non-feathered portions of their face and head area, such as their ear holes. The pigeon pox outbreak seems to be infecting the younger birds, mostly, and there's two, in this flock, that are affected, currently. Thankfully, the infection is said to not seem to bother the birds, much, except that the wart-like growths could potentially detriment the birds' vision. 

One of the birds which have contracted pigeon pox. Notice the bump on the birds' head, and the protruding lumps on the sides of the face.

A rear view on the same bird (center), with the protrusion clearly visible.

Another view of the affected bird, feeding amongst the rest of the flock. 

This condition has been affecting only several birds, and it is the first year, in seven years, that I have noticed the condition appearing in the pigeon flocks, locally. One explanation could be the presence of rats, living nearby the pigeons, and, being that the rats have to search much harder to gain food, in general, the rodents are, conceivably, more susceptible to harboring infectious diseases. Rats had also shown up at the library flock's feeding pen, which is a dirt planting area, for decoration, beneath the ledge, where the birds spend their days. I had also seen the condition affect another bird, all the way on the other side of downtown Los Angeles, nearby Venice at Main, where I do recyclables returns at the recycling center, there, underneath the freeway. 

It's a good thing that Snooker is back. In addition to being an attractively-colored bird, he is also making a reputation for himself of being one of the flock's leaders, being that he has successfully mated with another pigeon. Oftentimes, Snooker would be observed overlooking the rest of the flock's meal time, whereas he would stand aside, and simply watch, at times. 

Challenges in training wild pigeon flocks, and some corollaries.

 Just a moment ago, I happened upon reflecting, internally, upon a crossroads of various thoughts. One of them was the impermeability of my Chinese side in me: I thought about this, within the contexts of life coaching affecting personality shifts, and, with regards to animal training, and the difficulties that are inherent in working with wild birds. It is, after all, a Chinese saying: 

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

 Affecting such a sort of change, in a wild bird, compared to the standard, hands-off, keep away nature of birds, yet, in urban society, and, hence, with pigeons and other city birds in Los Angeles, CA, USA, it's still a rare occurrence to encounter a bird (pigeon) that is malleable and resilient enough to get close enough to a human who is postured and positioned for potentially putting hands on the bird. Birds of this sort (city type) are well-familiarized, typically, with the gestures and habits of humans - for certain, there are bird lovers abound, who care to be gentle and loving to the birds, and, on the other hand, there are much more shocking gestures of humans and their animals of chasing after the birds, or, outright frightening the birds, such as: mindlessly, or out of frustration. 

A pigeon decoy.

It is my experience with animals capable of higher intelligence, which are capable of being trained, that, absent of an early nurturing environment of singular human care, beyond a certain point, in the creature's infancy, the mind of the animal is fairly malleable, in adjusting the lifetime degree and measure of trust that the creature has, towards the caretaker. A traumatic experience in the animal's nurturing environment circumstances will tend to shape the creature's general attitudes and level of trust, as well as trainability of the animal, over a lifetime. I thought about all of this, momentarily, while lamenting a broken relationship or two, that had happened to me, in life. I thought about things, such as could I have done something more? I reflected upon deeper contexts of the issue that I draw relevance, here, between my life, and the flocks of pigeons that I try to tame, here in downtown LA, (I work on two flocks, in general, lately) for my amusement, and for the amusement of others, hopefully, in the future. I thought about my mother, who is Chinese. She brought me up of a relatively rigid and disciplined sort; I ended up an early bloomer, in some contexts, such as in school, and in dating, compared to some of my peers. My recurrent thoughts 💭 of my mother, lately, (absent of speaking directly to her) are fairly astute; that is to say that there's little variance between what I remember of her, and what goes on, in my thoughts that include her, now, in terms of her personality. We were very close, in our upbringing. On the other hand, my father was a less patient disciplinarian, and the imaginative thoughts I experience of him, now, tend more towards confusion and caprice, and it's moreso troubling sorts of things that go on. Mind you, this is all referring to things that happen in my mind about them, when I'm by myself. 

I draw this comparison between my relationship with my parents and the birds that I take care of, because it's a sort of parenting, to take care of a flock of birds, such as these pigeons. I also think up my available models of behavioral conditioning and nurturing environment expertise possible, given my own experiences; I consider the expertise of others, as well, such as in instances where I've sat in on trained-animal shows and installations, such as the small-parrot aviary at the San Diego Wild Animal Park's (they've changed names, since I've been, apparently) walk-through aviary that they had, where hand-tame small parrots would land on patrons and drink nectar out of little cups that visitors could purchase. I wonder about the years-gone-on potential of these pigeons, somewhere down the line, and I think about what these birds could be capable of - some part group and social abilities training, and some part, some facet of the Wild Animal Park's walk-in, hand-feeding aviary experience, somehow, navigated through the lens of that the pigeons are just wild birds. I've seen, and experienced, some features of this sort of descriptive pigeons and parrots experience, up north, in Sacramento, where, as a child, I had a formative experience in feeding birds (pigeons) that would land on people who fed them, and take food out of their hands. 

(Some of) a flock of pigeons that I take care of, in town. One arrives, swooping down from the birds' ledge, while others eat their meal, and while one examines me, observing them.

Obviously, I get used to some of the birds, and there's some of them that I would miss, if they disappeared. This is on my mind, because Snooker, the resident Pakistani High Flyer of the local Library's flock, seems to have gone in an extended leave, over the past week, or so' which is uncharacteristic, although, on one hand, new birds showed up at the flock's ledge, where they hang out, all day, and, being a whitish breed of pigeon, Snooker was fairly unique. There's a new white pigeon, amongst the new birds, and I know of a flock, nearby enough, where there's a backup Pakistani High Flyer, so it's not a complete loss, if Snooker is truly gone for good, somehow (there was a pigeon hunter who visited the flock with a hawk, recently, although I think I saw Snooker after that). I'm mostly concerned about the breeding stock, and of the birds' individual psychology, in the case of the unique, white, or whitish pigeons, such as Snooker, or, in other cases, where the decorative features of some of the pigeons, which have developed, over years, could be lost, if the birds happen to be picked on, or picked out, for hunting purposes, particularly, although I don't own the birds, per se, I know, and people are generally free to do as they please amongst, or about, the birds. 

Snooker tends to disappear, though, here and there, I'd estimate, and since he had sired some young, or mated with females, at least (I'd witnessed him mate, once or twice), there's a possibility that his genetics will appear, soon, or, over years ("recessively," as it's known, in genetic terminology), once again, if he had gone missing, permanently. There's a chance that he's caring for some young, with his mate, for example, perhaps, since I'd seen him recently pair up with a female 🐑.

Anyways, what I thought had been unique conditioning rhetoric that occured, recently (yesterday), was that the birds had started to get used to me showing up, and I'd been favoring sweet, rich treats, such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with table syrup (now, I'm doing PB&J with marshmallow creme). Some of them start to anticipate being fed, and they'll swoop down, when I show up and sit on the ledge, and wait for their food (sometimes, they won't wait, though, and they creep up and steal a slice of bread, while I prepare their sandwiches. Inevitably, the slice falls down, on to he sidewalk, and some of the other birds, waiting below, begin to devour the bread slice, hungry creatures that they are). This time, though, the really cute thing that some of the birds did was that they followed me, after I was done feeding the flock, and I was headed over in to the library. There's a shady alcove, beneath the foliage, where some of the birds have started spending some time, to cool down, during the heat wave we'd been going through, in Southern California. So, several of the birds follow suit, and track me over to the new spot, which, I feel, is a good signal for optimism that these birds are trainable, despite being adult birds, most of them. There was a bird that had swollen ears, or an infection, of some sort, and he's doing better, lately, as well. 

Twice the number of pigeons showed up at the DTLA Central Library, today.

Today, when I showed up to feed the pigeons at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Branch, there was a longer-than-expected line of pigeons perched at the ledge, where the typical flock of pigeons hang out, while they wait for their meal. Not a huge problem, since I had a whole loaf of buttered bread, enough for two flocks, or more, already, along with me, for the birds' daily meal.

Today, at the library, there were nearly twice the amount of pigeons that had shown up. 

Some of the long(er) row of pigeons that I encountered, while visiting the library, today.

I had initially encountered this influx of refugee pigeons several blocks over, on Broadway at 7th, where some new street construction had just cleared, and the streets had opened up with new bike lanes. Being that the birds were there, they were potentially seeking out better meal accommodations, and I'd fed them some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I recall, possibly giving the birds there an inclination of that they could spot some better fare in a different part of town, being that they had gone searching, to begin with. These new birds had ostensibly discovered the flock already perched at the Library's famous pigeon ledge, and, collectively, saw an opportunity - a possibility for a tastier meal ticket, to come, if they wait, alongside the birds, and figure out why the flock sits perched, there: which, of course, would garner them access to my feeding services, and hence, I gave them all a meal, and a drink of water.

"Snooker," the resident Pakistani High Flyer pigeon of the library (in white, below), was a bit visible anxious, being that a near-doppelganger, similarly white, (but not quite decorated with a Pakistani High Flyer's mottled plumage), was amongst the new faces in the crowd, and, as such, he was the first amongst all of the birds present to swoop down, in order to receive the day's meal.

Snook, snook! With all of the new birds present, some of the birds (including Snooker, the Pakistani High Flyer, pictured here), experience some anxiety over whether or not they'll all be fed the same amount of food.

Quickly, a crowd arrives, awaiting a meal, along with some water, provided along with the buttered cinnamon sugar bread I had prepared, for the day.

Being the only Pakistani High Flyer pigeon, amongst the darker-feathered pigeons, it may have been a bit unnerving that a similarly-colored pigeon had shown up, causing Snooker to be a bit neurotic. Nonetheless, I made sure to feed all of the birds present a sufficient meal and drink to fill their bellies. There is also another bird at crisis' amongst the regulars in the flock. He has a swollen face; I'd suppose that he got some kind of skin condition, or perhaps he was picked on, although that started a couple of weeks ago, and he's doing better, now.

This poor bird, so far unnamed, was another recent addition to the Central Library's numbers of pigeons. He had shown up, from miles away (I believe; I had spotted another pigeon with nearly the same skin condition, the day prior to him showing up, here, under the freeway, with some other birds). It would be a miraculous thing, if he had somehow found his way to this flock, from out of being virtually blinded by the swelling on his face, now seen through to a nearly full recovery, at this point. 

At the end of the meal, all of the birds' anxieties and worries over being fed, for the day, end up satisfactorily dealt with, after a tasty meal had served them all.

Today's mealtime was more crowded than typical. Will tomorrow see the same new birds show up? 

It's a heat wave out there, being that it's summertime, so I guess I ought to touch up on these other flocks of birds, in town, as my focus, over the next and upcoming weeks, since I offer the birds water, along with their bread, when I feed them, to ensure that they get sufficient hydration in their food regimens.

Local DTLA Pigeon Genetic Milestones - Academic Evidence

 As it's been around 7 years that I'd been visiting the local Downtown Los Angeles pigeon flocks and keeping this blog, several breeding seasons had come to pass, with some distinctions in the subsequent offspring of the pigeons that had been living back then now prominently mixing in to the general showing of the birds (I estimate that the local flocks' birds will see an average lifespan of up to 10-15 years, since they're cared for, on a distributed and daily basis). 

What does this mean? 

It means that the pre-existing birds (adults and wild pigeons) are seen, side-by-side, demonstrating what the University of Utah's Pigeonetics website documents as genetic variations, due to some or other particular conditions; genetic development conditions, as it were.

"Snooker," as I've named him (I've discerned that he's male, over time, due to his behavioral traits and his mating-act positioning of himself as the dominant partner), pictured here (below), earlier on, in 2024, with what could be his offspring (above); a more young and less developed bird, as the birds are capable of improving on their inherited genetics with suitable nutritional and conditioning support, during their lifetime. Snooker is perhaps a year and a half old, or so - I noticed him at the library beginning last year, in 2023. I was surprised to see his genetic likeness in this other, young bird, which left the flock, after some weeks. The genetic variant of this style of pigeon is perhaps known as as "Pakistani High Flyer," with various marks of genetic distinction being apparent, given a common wild pigeon.

The University's website does a fine and entertaining quick read on genetic variants, as well as some of the conditions under which some of these variations occur, in the birds' pedigrees. Some of the conditions require multiple breeding seasons, as well as chance and distributed mating efforts - keep in mind, pigeons are bound to relatively simple behaviors, given that their outdoor wildlife hobbyist environments are coupled with some challenges and strife, from naysayers to their well-being. This being the case, 7 years is plenty of time for these birds to have mixed, and - one can observe, on any given day, the richness in variety that the birds' plumage and other ornamentation, such as their eyelids, leg feathers (my mother would call this feature their "pants"), as well as frills and beak shape and size differentiations. 

I call this one "Redbeard," for his unique decorative facial plumage. Redbeard is a fun and friendly bird; I spot him sometimes breaking the ice, so to speak, on a day-by-day basis, by flying "at" me, excitedly, ostensibly, because I bring them tasty sweets, mostly pastry type items, and cookies. It's a sign of the promise of youth, of the birds, in renewing their numbers, year in and year out, of that perhaps we will see them though as someday hand-tame birds, under some circumstances, at least. It's happened before, at least, quite nearly so, but there's been a lot of other things going on, around their daily habitat environments. This being the case, I do make it out to feed them pretty regularly, nearly every day, given a month, or so, so that's good conditioning towards these local Downtown Los Angeles birds becoming tamer, over time. Redbeard is very sociable-curious, as the flocks of pigeons around him, since his upbringing, have been relatively large; anywhere from 25-100 birds, I'd estimate, show up for the feedings around him. I estimate Redbeard's age to be 1-3 years old; I just started noticing him, in particular, this year.

Given time left to themselves, (in a theoretical setting), pigeons will revert to their wild state, in appearance. These genetic variations are considered domesticated and fancy traits. My take on these flocks is that they can be fancy, moreso than domesticated, for beginners, given that there are still threats abound, for the birds, being likely. Beyond that, civic support for the birds would ostensibly grow, organically, given that they are wildlife, and, as well, being that they're taken care of, as best as they can be (I clean up, after them, on a regular basis, and other people provide them with water dishes regularly, as well). 

A prominent monochrome-colored black-feathered pigeon, which is one of the markers of genetic variance that occurs, under controlled care circumstances, here, amongst many other pigeons, for reference. This flock is situated just outside of downtown LA, but they're more free to perch and peck around, in their daily habitat environment, without being harassed. As a result, their behavioral traits and mannerisms are more gentle, naive, and open to sociability.

Check out the University of Utah's site, as the information there will assist most readers in understanding the sort of information discussed here, in a more pragmatic and straightforward manner of explanation, as it was the source of my realization of the developments discussed here, and there are simple, page-by-page discussions that are navigable, with pictures and or charts included on each page. It's really a well-done explainer site, that serves the purpose of demystifying some of the complexities of pigeon pedigree development and establishment.