Today’s pigeon feedings in downtown Los Angeles started out fairly typically; I stopped and fed three flocks on 5th near Los Angeles Street, at Pershing Square, and underneath the Figueroa overpass at 4th. I had scratch seed and grain mix for them, and I prepared some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, once I reached and fed the last flock, on the other side of town, from where I stay. Then I went to Whole Foods to purchase some more peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixings, since I had run out, after preparing the sandwiches.
I headed back over to the flock at Pershing Square, because I only had so much feed for them, the first time around, and there were well over hundred hungry birds there. I approached them, high flying in unison form, circling around the block’s intersection to maintain flock conformity. I proceeded to feed them their sandwiches, by tearing off little bite-sized chunks and tossing them in to various spots around the huge crowd of birds, to make sure that everyone had a chance at getting a bite of the sandwiches to eat. Once they had finished the sandwiches, they performed a few more flyovers, in unison, as before, landing back on the staircase, once they had made their rounds. I went through my bag so that I could offer some of them a final bite of dessert, since I had found a cheese danish, once the way back over to visit the flock.
Good news! Today, some of the braver pigeons, and even a sprightly sparrow, came right up to me to nibble away at the cheese danish. A few pigeons even made it a point to jump up on my hands and legs, as I sat there, and they ate directly out of my hand. I wasn’t able to feed them and capture footage of the scene, today, but this is a very promising development for the sociability and tourism value of the pigeon flock at Pershing Square. This flock had been a particular challenge to tame, because of the large size of the flock, owing to flock conformity influence upon the individual birds’ behavioral boundaries. Since it was not a common behavior, jumping up on the feeder was not seen as acceptable, previously. Other than that, there was a new graham cracker-colored pigeon at Pershing Square today. I named him Muffin.
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| Muffin, the pigeon, in light brown. |
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| Another photo of Muffin the pigeon. |
Other news is that there is a young squeaker at the 5th and Los Angeles Street flock who is in need of some prayerful support and positive thoughts. He’s been injured, on his head, such that he’s bald on his head, and he’s got scabs that were near bleeding, on the back of his head and neck.
Some other bird must have been bothered by the baby’s presence and picked on him. In addition, there’s another poor pigeon over in Pershing Square who has very severely swollen club feet, from having had string tied around his feet, cruelly. Some of his toes, on both legs, are turning black, with necrosis. I’m not able to help him, and I don’t know of anyone else who is in a position to help him, but at least, with necrosis becoming apparent, the nerves and cells die, in the affected area, and it might possibly hurt less than might be expected, for such swollen feet, but at least it’s a sign that he’ll be free from the pain, at some point, and although he will be a cripple for the rest of his life, he’ll have less stress on him, for losing his club feet, and he’ll always have daily meals to look forward to.
