Bill and Cheri Buchbinder don’t have cats or dogs or rabbits.
They have Donald.
The gray- and brown-speckled rock pigeon became a fan of the couple’s birdbath and feeder last May, and that fondness quickly spread to the Leelanau couple themselves.
It may have been that birdseed that led to Donald’s first meeting with Bill.
The Michigan native found Donald, green feathers glinting, perched on the railing of his deck one spring afternoon.
“I’ve never seen a pigeon on my back deck before,” said Bill, owner of Blue Water Sail & Canvas. “So I say, ‘Hey, pigeon.’ And he looked at me and started cooing, like pigeons do, and following me around.”
Bill, intrigued, ventured into the garage for some loose sunflower seeds the couple kept for their birdfeeders.
“I come out and he flew over and landed on my head,” he said. “So he’s there, eating sunflower seeds, and he walks onto my shoulder and down my arm.”
Donald, named after Bill’s pigeon-raising father, found a home in the couple’s garage rafters and the Buchbinders’ days were brightened by their odd houseguest’s shenanigans.
“He’s like a dog — follows us everywhere we go,” Cheri said. “When I garden in the summer, I’d bend down to pull weeds and he’d land on my back. Then he’d sit on my hat.”
And Donald stuck around, even as the days grew shorter and reds and yellows overtook their tree-dotted neighborhood like wildfire. Bill asked around the neighborhood, but found no one missing an incredibly friendly pigeon.
“We’d leave the back door open and he’d come and go as he pleased,” Bill said.
The pigeon enjoyed, too, the birdseed and sunflower seeds left in the garage for him daily.
Donald likes to “wrestle” with Bill, Cheri says, pecking at his fingers.
He’s sweet to her, though.
“He’s real friendly to me, he lets me pet him. He talks a lot, coos,” she said. “But he absolutely adores my husband — he gets really excited if he hears his voice or footsteps.”
The couple grew accustomed to their feathered friend’s greetings. Until one October afternoon, when Donald didn’t provide his usual hello.
Instead, Cheri returned from work to find her dear friend limping and cooing in the driveway.
She scooped him up and rushed Donald to the Grand Traverse Veterinary Hospital and Dr. Marianne Jossens.
It earned a few odd looks.
“Most people just shoot ‘em, use them for target practice. That’s what they said at the vet,” Cheri said. “I said, ‘He’s not a regular pigeon. He’s a pet pigeon.’”
Donald survived his encounter with another animal — Cheri and Bill suspect it was a hawk or owl attack — with an injured wing, a broken leg and some missing tail feathers.
The family left the vet, Donald with a carefully wrapped white cast. He’s recovered well in the weeks since, Cheri said, and she expects he’ll be cast-free within the next month.
“And he’s able to fly now — he wasn’t able to (at first),” Bill said.
“He learned to perch with one foot,” Cheri added.
Rock pigeons, or rock doves, are the most common species of the bird, and have a history of use as homing pigeons.
They’re found throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, and were introduced to the Americas centuries ago, where they’ve also become commonplace.
The Buchbinders don’t think Donald is a lost homing pigeon because, well, showing up at their home wouldn’t make him a very good one.
Donald instead proves to be a loving, if a bit odd, pet.
He returned to his old personality a few days after the ordeal, and lets the Buchbinders pet and handle him just like before.
He’s even back to wrestling with Bill.
“I’ll stick my hand in his cage and he just loves to peck my hand, so I let him do that and I’ll ruffle the feathers on his head,” Bill said. “I don’t think he and I are at odds. But that’s why I think he’s a male.”
“It’s more of a playtime,” Cheri added. “I think that’s the only reason he survived the hawk attack at all — he’s in good shape from his exercise with my husband.”
For now, Donald’s new home is a straw-floored cage in the Buchbinders’ basement — Cheri said he’ll remain safely indoors until spring. The couple let Donald out for a few hours each night, and he’s happy to again follow them around and test his wings.
The Buchbinders aren’t interested in risking another attack.
“I don’t know how to protect him from hawks — we’ll have to think about that in the spring,” Cheri said.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Six ’emaciated’ pigeons were dumped in a box and abandoned by the side of the road.
One of the birds had already starved to death by the time the grim discovery – on Cherry Tree Drive in Hazel Grove, Stockport – was made on Saturday.
The other birds were so skinny that their bones were visible.
A resident found the pigeons at the side of her driveway and alerted the RSPCA after realising they were not in good health.
Inspector Heather Morris was sent to the scene and found the five surviving birds were very unwell. They were emaciated, lame, had pigeon pox and were very dirty.
They were taken to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre where a vet assessed them and decided the kindest thing to do would be to put them to sleep to end their suffering.
Inspector Morris said: “It is really unusual to have pigeons abandoned and it was so sad to see them in such a sorry state.
“Whoever allowed to them to get like that would have known they were unwell and emaciated – that doesn’t happen overnight. Their bones were visible they were so thin.
“I believe they were in this box for 24 to 48 hours and during that time the starving birds were without food and water.
“It is so cruel to just dump animals like this, if they are ill they should be taken to the vets to be put out of their misery but not left to suffer a lingering death.”
She said one bird was ringed but the details were out of date. There was a name on the rings which read “Behrooz”.
The cardboard box was also distinctive with the words ‘Private Reserve Fries’ written on the side.
Inspector Morris added: “I would like to appeal to anyone who recognises the name on the ring or knows of this type of pigeon in the area to come forward.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The TV star looked shocked as one of the creatures flapped its wings in his face before pooing on Susanna Reid’s notes and going rogue in the studio earlier today.
Earlier this month, Piers was mocked by his son Spencer who compared him to the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Today, the 53-year-old star, had two pigeons sit on his head and shoulder as they visited the studio during Richard Arnold’s I’m A Celebrity segment.
However, as they moved off him, one shocked the presenter when it flapped its wings in his face.
The same bird then pooed on 47-year-old Susanna’s script before proceeding to fly into crew members.
As the pigeon handler struggled to round up the pigeons, the studio was thrown into chaos.
Even weather girl Laura Tobin, 36, tried to help catch them.
Eventually the man was able to scoop them up into a net.
Shots showed him walking off with the bird in his hand.
Earlier in the show, Piers slammed David Beckham as “weird” for kissing daughter Harper on the lips.
The TV star criticised the footballer on Good Morning Britain earlier today after the sports star shared a sweet pic of him with his seven-year-old girl while ice-skating.
Yesterday, the 43-year-old father-of-four was trolled after he shared the innocent snap to Instagram.
Today Piers called him “creepy” and “weird” for how he showed affection to his youngest child.
The presenter said: “It’s just weird right? Who does that with their kids? Who kisses their kids on the lips.”
Later on in the show Piers added that it was “quite creepy”, while co-host Susanna Reid suggested celebrities shouldn’t post pictures like that online if they didn’t want “the scrutiny”.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
My last column dealt with introduced species of birds such as the Mandarin duck and game birds such as pheasants and turkeys. On the Sunshine Coast we have four other species that qualify as introduced, that is, they arrived here with a helping hand from humans. In reality the distinction between species that arrive with a helping hand and those that arrive on their own initiative can be a little muddy.
House sparrows and starlings were both deliberately introduced to North America from Europe in the 19th century, while the most recent colonizer, the collared dove, escaped from an aviary in the Bahamas, crossed over to Florida and subsequently conquered the continent.
The history of starlings and house sparrows in North America is well known. Immigrants all over the world have often felt the need to introduce species from their homelands and there were a couple of unsuccessful introductions of starlings to the U.S. before the famous April 1890 introduction of 80 birds to Central Park in New York City. By 1928 the species had spread west to the Mississippi River and to California in 1942. House sparrows were also introduced to New York in 1852, originally as an attempt to control the linden moth. Both of these species were supremely adapted for a rapid spread in their new homeland.
House sparrows flourish around human habitation, both in urban environments and wherever there is cultivation. They are not common on the Sunshine Coast but a few can be found in downtown Sechelt and urban Gibsons.
Starlings congregate in large flocks and feed on rough pasture, often around livestock. They also wander to mudflats and shorelines in the summer.
Pigeons are semi-domesticated, generally found in close association with humans, though not directly dependent upon them. Correctly known as rock pigeons, they congregate in flocks where there is a constant food supply such as at a bird feeder. Many people have noted the flock that roosts on the power line in Selma Park, and another flock frequents the power lines at the Sechelt Marsh where they glean food from the ducks being fed.
Pigeons and doves have a long and close association with humanity, and in the last ten years or so the Eurasian collared dove has colonized the Sunshine Coast and indeed much of North America. That story will have to wait for a future column.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
In a memorable segment, Anne fought through fish guts, a shower of cockroaches and an operating theatre filled with pigeons to bring back the stars.
The team gave Anne some motivation before she went off to undertake the trial and put all their faith in her to bring home the bacon.
Singer Fleur East said: “Anne’s grown so much as a person since she’s been here, she’s braver and makes me think she’ll do better than we think she’ll do.”
Anne then joined Dec Donnelly & Holly Willoughby to have her task explained: “This is the Hellish Hospital, your aim is to find the 11 stars that are hidden inside the gruesome vaults, you’ve got 11 minutes to find the stars and each one is worth a meal for camp.”
The first room of the hospital did not phase her as the quiz champ, star of ITV’s The Chase, picked up a star from beneath a snake and soon found another in a chest of drawers.
Anne then opened a wardrobe in the room and it was full of spiders.
After deciding to give the spiders a miss and moving on to the next room she was faced with a star hidden in a pile of offal and fish guts, before a shower of cockroaches fell onto her head.
The next room was an operating theatre full of pigeons which Anne was surprisingly fine with. She rummaged through some more offal and fish guts and found a star.
After finding another three stars she looked for the exit to enter the final room but found she could not go on any longer after discovering a large tunnel with a lizard inside.
She said: “I thought ‘Oh dear’, I’ll be on my hands and knees and just no.
“I said if I got 7 I’d feel like that was enough.” said Anne. “It’s incredible, you should be super proud.” said Holly.
After her victorious return from the trail she said: “The previous trial I was so panicked and the critters were so revolting this time I was able to keep it together a bit more. Having seven stars will mean we get a decent meal tonight.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
