Cycles | Main | The Pecking Order and the Table Setter
May 18, 2004
Pigeon Voyeur
It is said that pigeons generally mate for life. Does this apply to urban pigeons?
If so, I have witnessed the most egregious act of pigeon courtship ever recorded in NYC history.
Early in the morning on Saturday, while walking down Seventh Avenue to buy the paper, a beefy pigeon dove down into a flock that was feeding on refuse in the street. In a swift, determined swoop, he mounted one of the females (at least I assume that they were a heterogeneous mix), undulating in a way that I think only a mating pigeon might.
I stopped dead in my tracks, startled, a bit curious, but mostly horrified. While the couple went at it, I stared, the lone human amidst a flock of hungry and rather ambivalent squabs. It was, in many senses, an end to an urban innocence that I didn’t even know I had. I can only liken it to the first time I ever heard the faint grunts of parental lust. Paralysis.
I know that they were only pigeons. There’s no dearth of their kind in New York, so they must procreate frequently. Heck, I’ve heard them often enough on people’s window sills. But to witness them in the throes of unabashed pigeon ecstasy? That was definitely one for the books.
Park Slope pigeon porn. Who would have thought?
Posted by callalillie at May 18, 2004 11:15 PM | City Life , Life in the Slope
He was probably a Manhattan-based swinger pigeon who packed up and moved to the Slope in order to raise flocks of little pigeons who will poop on the playground at PS 123.
Posted by: mp at May 18, 2004 10:33 AM
He was one aggressive fowl.
Posted by: corie at May 18, 2004 12:35 PM
Watching animals mate may be natural, but it's creepy too. I think I've seen pigeons mate, or they were just really angry at each other.
Posted by: Jen at May 18, 2004 12:37 PM
enjoyable post C. Made me giggle.
Posted by: Jason at May 18, 2004 3:11 PM
Not to pick nits off a pigeon but...
Was this really pigeon porn or just the normal course of healthy avian sexuality?
Did the male of the pair have a big cheesy mustache or faded prison tattoos?
Was the female wearing high heels or any sort of school-girl outfit?
After all, this scene took place on a street in Brooklyn, not at the Star-Lite Motel just off the expressway...
Posted by: Scoxx at May 18, 2004 3:50 PM
They could have been teen-aged pigeons, as they were doing the humpty in front of John Jay HS.
I think it felt like pigeon porn because I actually stopped and stared. For a while...because I was completely awestruck.
Posted by: corie at May 18, 2004 4:02 PM
you know, maybe it was two female pigeons? did you see that q&a in the times magazine about two weeks ago?
Posted by: tien at May 18, 2004 4:16 PM
You seem to be saying that "porn is in the eye of the beholder". Although I am no great fan of this form, I would probably have to agree.
Tell me - If Debbie does Darren, Dylan, Dennis and Don in a forest and no one (else) is there to see it - will the boys still need to visit the doctor to take care of that burning sensation?
Posted by: Scoxx at May 18, 2004 4:21 PM
