1.20.25 McKinley Park, Chicago, IL

So, I don't know exactly how this started, but now I'm obsessed with Rock Pigeons. OK, maybe obsessed is a little strong. I don't go to pigeon fancier's contests or multi-million dollar high-stakes pigeon racing. (Yes, both those things exist.) I don't have a giant wall full of pigeons called a dovecote built into my house, or have an army of fancy pigeons. Despite not participating in all those insane yet real things, I've gotten really interested in these birds. They have TONS of interesting plumages, romantic and social behavior, and over a thousand breeds. In fact, pigeons have possibly been pets before AGRICULTURE even existed. Not only were they pets, but food, fertilizer producers (I'm talking poo-poo), and even prevalently sacrificed in several ancient traditions. In the movie Home Alone, they thoroughly trained 500 pigeons to fly in and out of the background. There are pigeons wherever there are people. And as such an interesting species, my family watches them a lot these days. As you look through this post, you will read that I label them left to right by patterning.

A bunch of pigeons on someone's roof

Sleepy blue check and some other plumages

Piebald blue t-check, blue bar and blue check (Rock Pigeon plumages)

An ash-red bar, ash-red check, and various other plumages

Between the spread blue and the blue check is a Rock Pigeon with blue t-check patterning with ash-red on it's wing. I nicknamed it the "Super pigeon"

Super pigeon is suprised by blue bar taking off

Male blue bar doing a mating display (Rock Pigeons will breed year-round, as long as there's food), a seemingly unimpressed potential (or already) mate, and some other plumages