# North American vs African Ferals



## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Yay, we finally have pigeons.

I've been living in Toronto for a year now and a pigeon finally arrived on my balcony. I'm staying on the top level of an apartment complex, so there is no real shelter for the pidgies. Anyway I happened to see a rather colourful guy pop in and start exploring the flower beds. I threw out some seeds and what do you know, he happily started gobbling them up.

The next day at the same time he arrived again with a mate and every day since they have come past for a quick nibble. I call them Coo and Skit for courageous and skittish, which mark their personalities quite aptly.

They are pretty smart pidgies. When they can't see us at the balcony they fly past the other windows of the apartment to see if we are home and if they see us Coo perches on the window frame, which really has no room for perching and peer in asking for food. We have a bag of seeds so so far they have been lucky and gotten food each time. They are starting to become cheeky now and very brave. After a week they won't eat out of my hand, but pretty close. I can drop seeds between my legs while squatting and they'll go for them. 

I find it quite interesting to compare these guys to my pigeons in Cape Town, which were far more skittish. Even those that were raised on my balcony and saw me every day were terribly afraid. Nothing seems to phase these guys though. It's also interesting how they figured out the food right away. They also seem to have made this balcony their territory. There are lots of other pidgies around but none of them have ventured this way, which is just as well. I don't want to be feeding a whole army like in Cape Town.

I have some photos. Will keep you posted. It's good to have pidgies back!


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Oh and today, they did the mating dance. Cape Town pidgies would never do that if they knew I was watching! If i wasn't sure before, at least now I know who is dad and who is mom. If they are mating, does that mean eggs on the way? Not that they will lay them here on the balcony. It was still snowing last week, so these guys are hard core. They even left foot prints in the snow on the balcony while foraging around for food.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Just curious, besides some pics of your Toronto buddies, do you have any photos of your Cape Town ones ???


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Jaye said:


> Just curious, besides some pics of your Toronto buddies, do you have any photos of your Cape Town ones ???


Here's an album
https://picasaweb.google.com/sonicdave/Pigeons?feat=directlink

Coo is so cheeky that he flew into the apartment today looking for food. A tiny window was open and he found it. Poor guy got stuck inside though and kept flying into the window to get out. We opened the door for him and he sheepishly escaped. He's now feeling a little sorry for himself sitting on the balcony while Skit eats all the food.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Nice series of pictures. The dad looks like has a homer blood.

What kind of pigeon band did you use on this?


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## Rafael/PR (Sep 8, 2008)

really nice pictures it told a story by it self


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## Luffy (Feb 27, 2011)

Lovely thanks for the pictures


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Glad you like the pictures. I made my own band out of electrical tape. I know a few members think this is a little careless, but I made sure there were no issues and it came off easily.

My pigeons here are becoming quite attached. I know from the Cape Town experience, that once there is a critical mass that know about food the visitors explode. We've therefore only been feeding them when they are here and only enough food that they eat it all. Pretty soon they started begging at the window, and within a week they were eating out of my hand. It's quite amazing actually considering my experience with the Cape Town pidgies.

I'll add some pictures.


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

*Photos*

Coo flapping his wings and begging for attention.
Coo staring in looking for me.
Skit eating out of my hand.


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

This is Fluffy. He lives in the area and none of the pigeons are too fond of him.


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

After spotting Fluffy I haven't seen my pigeons again. I miss them. They would come a few times a day and tap on the window for food. They would eat out my hand and they would hang out with me on the balcony. What could have happened to them? I don't imagine Fluffy got them as there are plenty other little creatures in the neighbourhood to go for.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Sorry to hear about that. Usually when you suddenly don't see them anymore something bad happened to them. And the tamer the birds are the more they are vulnerable to predators. But give it a month to see whether your friends will come back. I used to have this feral pigeon that visits me every 6 months. LOL!

A hawk probably got one of my frequent visiting dove today, too, as well. The hawk was eating it on top of my loft with feathers flying all over the place.


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Thanks for the comments. It's been 10 days now. No sign of them, but I've seen the Hawk around every day. The other pigeons on other balconies are still around but they all hide when Fluffy is near. They were tame I guess. I couldn't touch them, but they would eat from my hand. Knowing these two, they probably found a better source of food that doesn't require tapping on a window. Hopefully they come back when it's warm enough for us to put the garden outside.


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