The pigeons I feed in downtown LA got cinnamon swirl peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

 As many of my long-time readers could attest, for a long time (about 7 years, or so), I was routinely in the habit of feeding the pigeons I see, daily - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sometimes, it would be a variation on a sandwich, such as grilled cheese sandwiches, at times where I was feeling inspired. Nearly a year ago, at this point, however, I transitioned to seeds, because I had a nagging suspicion growing inside of me, of that seeds were literally more healthy and appropriate for the birds, desipite the charm of peanut butter and jelly sandwich-fed pigeons (later on, after I transitioned, I discovered, through consulting with AI, that peanuts, and peanut butter, consequentially, were high calorie dietary choices, which the birds would welcome. 

So, it had been a while since the birds had gotten sandwiches from me. I had fully transitioned to seeds, since I first tried them (I was initially reluctant to purchase seeds for the birds, despite that seeds used to be available, locally, in downtown LA, at Ralph’s; now, seeds are not on the shelves, anymore). I had reasoned that the nagging voice in my head could possibly be correct, and, at the time, I didn’t have a more authoritative retort to counter the assertion. The nagging voice in my head played a tricky hand with me, hinging upon the rhetoric of that seeds were more nutritious. Now, having spent some (or more) time using either feed that I would provide for the birds, I can say that they both have their upsides and downsides. For example, eating a sandwich was more of a community effort, despite that the birds flock towards the food being given towards them, and they step all over each other, as a result, regardless of the type of food I happen to give them. The sandwich pieces would get nibbled at, by one or more birds, at a time, and then the sandwich would be flung somewhere nearby, being that they have to tear the bread apart, so small groups of birds, for the several feeding hotspots the sandwiches would represent, each took their turns eating at the rich treat. 

Thomas’ Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bread, from Amazon, is what I chose for the birds’ sandwiches, today, and it was only $3.06! A bargain, relatively, and very tasty, at that.

By comparison, seeds are a bit more democratic a food to give the birds, and, it’s a more “natural” food for them. Every one of them gets their chance at getting some of the seeds and grains that I toss out, and, for the most part, the birds still stick around, in general, before I arrive, and after I leave, ostensibly because other people come and feed them, there, at Pershing Square. I leave them a little bit hungry, perhaps, yet they’re there, daily, faithfully, and they appreciate any sort of meal they can get, that fits in to their dietary regimen, that is (pigeons are classified as granivores; meaning they naturally get by on a diet of grains). I feed three flocks of birds; two others, on opposite sides of town, and those ones get what I estimate is a filling meal for them, since they’re not frequented by other pigeon-feeding folks, where they’re situated. Today, though, (or, yesterday - I’m writing this early in the morning, the next day), I had cinnamon swirl raisin bread, since it was on sale for cheap, and I could get free shipping, if I ordered $10 more worth of stuff off of Amazon, in addition to their fresh bag of seeds that I bought them. 

I figured, here’s my chance - to prove to myself that I’m still willing to make sandwiches for them, and, now I have the confidence that the high-calorie PB&J meals are suitable, vegetarian treats for them, and possibly, they become a bit stimulated from having some sugar, from the jam, which they wouldn’t get, eating just seeds. So I went out and made them their sandwiches, as I showed up at their roosting spots, and the birds waited patiently for the sandwich-making to be done; they’re used to waiting, I guess. This time around, though, the pigeons at Pershing Square seemed even more than typical “worked up” in to a feeding frenzy, since they got sandwiches (which arrived earlier in the day than the seeds). After I was done feeding them, they started to fly up towards me, some of them, as if they were courting the idea of landing on me, to let me know that they’re happy, and, perhaps, that I’d been holding out on some last bites for them to eat. I made the Pershing Square pigeons three sandwiches, which, I figure, was a duly rich meal for the birds, and that it was enough food material to go around, so that every bird who really wanted to eat got to have some - some of the birds will stand off to the sidelines, and I try to toss out a little bit for the sparrows, also, but I know that the birds also become more assertive when they’re hungrier, as individuals, so I think that, on some days, some of the birds are just less motivated to take part in the feeding frenzy. 

The event made me think about how the day’s meal probably reminded the birds of their youth; it’s estimated that pigeons live for about 3 years, in the wild, yet they can live for perhaps 15-20 years, if taken good care of, in captivity. Now, I don’t quite believe that the birds I feed only live 3 years; I feel that they’re better taken care of than that, but certainly the meal must have been a warm reminder of the days when sandwiches were the standard fare (it’s a fair amount more costly to purchase sandwiches, for them, but I had food stamps, back then, and I could shoulder much of the costs, throughout a month, contingent on that my benefits were available for me to use, to purchase food, not seeds). Now, I spend my own money for everything I have to purchase, so it matters somewhat less, whether I purchase sandwich fixings for the birds, or it comes to seeds. Some of the birds even cozied up to the notion of trying to snatch some sandwich out of my hand, before I tossed out small portions of the meal throughout the flock, which surrounds me, as I feed them. 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #10: Figueroa at 4th St. Underpass flock

This flock is a delight to visit (for me, at least, because I'm training them). They are currently (October 2024) becoming trained on the clicker, for "come." One of the birds swooped down in front of me, just earlier, today, as I arrived. I was positioned in an unfamiliar place, for feeding's sake, so it was especially flattering that the bird recognized me by the clicker. 

Some of the pigeon flock at Figueroa at 4th St. Underpass. 

This flock is particularly charming for its resilience in the face of challenges. Several of the birds (much more than by averages of other flocks) have visible battle scars, in the form of deformed and swollen feet, from having string tied around their feet, by former trappers that frequented the area, although they're here no longer, I seem to notice. I'm not well-versed in trapping the pigeons, to save them from their plight, at this time. I just show up and feed them. You can check out some of their quaint and isolated behaviors (although fairly common fare, for pigeons; I just felt that they could be a control flock, eventually, in psychological terms, with their progress and development in mind, on account of their isolation) in some video footage I captured while socializing my deceased pigeon friend that I brought along, and wrote an article on, a couple of weeks ago, below. 

Here, you can see my pigeon friend is being investigated by one of the males in the Figueroa at 4th St. Underpass flock's regular members.

Regardless of being new to the place, my pigeon friend felt right at home with the new birds, and he took to some sharing of the same meal as the other birds, while we visited. 

This bird, (unnamed, so far) is one of the more charming of the flock. He had a broken leg happen to him, several months ago, and it hasn't quite healed properly, but he could potentially heal up and be just fine, some day. 

The location is fairly quiet, lately, and, as I noted, isolated, but it's ideal if you happen to show up with food for the birds, and you can spot them roosting on the light poles. They'll swoop down and accept food, if they spot you tossing some out, in many cases. If you have a clicker, that's even better, because they're becoming trained on clicker noises. 

Autumn 2025 updates:

I’d been coming here regularly, now, for perhaps 2 years. The flock has stayed a fairly steady 12 core resident birds, here (the birds here are partially learned helplessness subjects, but, for example, as I arrived, today, the birds were out for a flight, so I suppose that they have somewhere to go, when they want to, or, perhaps, when they need to, which they don’t, really, since the flock here is relatively isolated from other flocks nearby that I know about. Regardless, in the summertime, I observed that, on one day, there were about 20 birds present, so that could have been their young, that had moved out, to live somewhere else, and they returned home to the cool enclave where they roost - a shady spot that’s practically impervious to heat waves. 

Some of the flock had returned, since I started writing this update:

I like this flock, in particular, because of its isolation - there’s rarely any humans that visit or frequent the location, and it’s kind of a cozy connection to have, knowing that they (probably) largely depend on me showing up, for their meal times. There used to be a homeless encampment here, and some of the birds here show signs of having been trapped, previously. Fortunately, none of them are too badly maimed, just some lost toes, here and there, and one crooked-legged pigeon. I also like this flock because sometimes they’ll spot me walking up, from a distance, and they’ll fly out to greet me, knowing that I’ll feed them.

 

New App: The Pigeon Costume Party Cam.

 Along the lines of the new book that I put out, on Apple Books, is the idea of that I’d like to place Augmented Reality (AR) costumes on the pigeons. I made this little HTML app that serves as a rough scratch version of the idea, using Gemini. The camera discovers birds within the view range and then places a bounding box and a wizard hat on the bird. Other than actually looking at birds, the viewer would just look like a camera view, although photos of birds work, as well.

The first scratch version of the Pigeon Costume Party Cam

 

Pigeon Costume Party Cam

Point your camera at some pigeons (or any bird) to begin!

Loading Machine Learning Model...

Error!

The Pigeon Costume Party Cam in action, on my site. 

 

New Feature: Pigeon Photobooth

Upload a photo of a pigeon, then drag the wizard hat onto its head!

Select a Pigeon Photo

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Pigeon-watching hotspots to see in town - # 1: The 7th at Metro Station Pigeon Family.

Here in Los Angeles, pigeons that frequent Metro rail stations are generally nothing new, but don't these novel and sometimes adventuresome pigeons make the stations something out of a storybook? They get to live in the stations, at all times, even in the off-hours. It's a trade off - of convenience, for being housed, so to speak, for security and warmth, essentially. 

2024's 7th at Metro baby pigeon, out at night, looking for a bite to eat. 

His parents roost nearby, overseeing his safety and progress in development. 

In this case, a (literal) small family of pigeons roosts at what could be considered some of the most illustrious of locales in Downtown Los Angeles, CA, with beautifully crafted skyscrapers and trendy malls, all within a block, or so. It's a great place to start out, as a Downtown visitor, and these pigeons serve as (sometimes) nightly ambassadors. Take, for example, baby pigeon, standing there, on his own, in the middle of the sidewalk. He's waiting to see some breadcrumbs tossed at him, or perhaps, some pieces of sweet pastries, or seeds. Baby pigeon is currently in the "sweet baby" stage, where the baby has not yet been abused, and hopefully that will last. 

The pigeon family, here at the 7th and Metro Station, has the tradition, and tourist attraction feature of being night owls. This feature about this small and peculiar family of birds makes for a great nighttime stop, to check and see if the birds are out on the sidewalk, or perching nearby the escalators, where they roost at night. A night owl showing of pigeons is always an exciting sort of bird to observe, since they'd become comfortable in socializing amongst their human caretakers, at odd hours. Being that this street intersection is such a well-known metropolitan foot traffic hotspot, this pigeon's roost serves as a testament to urban avian wildlife's potential; as ambassadors: for nature and for recreation, both. 

Update: April 4th, 2025

A new member of the flock is here! See baby pigeon up close with the rest of his family at 7th at Metro Station! He’s a bit ruffly, because he hasn’t learned to preen himself yet, but he takes part in sharing food with the others.

Pigeons eating sandwiches at the library. (Photo blog)

 Some of the pigeons have been doing pretty neat things, lately, during their meal time. One of them hops up on my arm and perches there to eat out of my hand. This is new behavior, as of the past couple of weeks, or so. 

The pigeons eat cheesecake, at the DTLA Central Library (photo blog).

 I captured some photos of the pigeons getting messy, while enjoying some cheesecake, yesterday, at the library. 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #9: DTLA Flower at 9th Street Flock, at Starbucks

 This flock has been developing ever since the 7-11 moved in to town, just up the street. Although the birds perch and hang out in various small nooks along Flower, and sometimes, in front of Ralph's, today I observed the birds hanging out at the side of the Starbucks cafe, and I felt like this was the perfect location to start establishing a regular visiting spot, for the birds to come and congregate, for a meal. 

The 9th at Flower locale pigeon flock, in the spot that I fancy, next to the Starbucks cafe.

Another view of the pigeons, with the Starbucks in view.