PICS of my cute birdie
 

http://www.onlymovies.com/_img/board/2/wik1.jpg

http://www.onlymovies.com/_img/board/2/wik2.jpg

http://www.onlymovies.com/_img/board/2/wik3.jpg


My big boy, Wikford Julius, Wik for short.
And the only menu he is on is mine!
Even the cats know better than to fuck with the bird, he has a mean pinch and wing slap!

is that a pigeon?

nice pics! exspecially the last one :)

Does it shit all over the place?

Yep. A racing pigeon. They are bred for speed, endurance and agility. His heart is almost 3 times the size of a feral pigeon, that is why he is so large.

WHAT IN THE HOLY FUCKING HELL POSESSED YOU TO THINK 'Hey, Let's post a pic of my FUCKING BIRD!' ?????!!!?!

A racing pigeon? Had any pigeon races yet? :winkwink:

If I were to let him roam free all over the house, yes.
But a healthy pigeon has really neat poop. They are hard little balls that are of a clay consistency. It's not all runny like the poop of birds that eat alot of fruit and veggies.

http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showth...hreadid=276289

And by the way, birds don't fuck, the act of mating is called 'threading'.

kool

sweeet

With his parents, yes, with him, no.
He is a pet to me and I don't put him in the races.
The most I do is take him 100 miles up the road and let him go.

He had his knee shattered and had to have it reconstructed, so he walks like a gimp. He got his armpit tore open by a perigren falcon about 4 months ago. When he was 4 months old he stayed out in a snowstorm for 3 days when I took him to Kansas for a visit.

He's a tough little guy.

you can take him 100 miles away and let him go and he heads home?? that is facinating :thumbsup

Yeah that's what we labeled it...I bet in bird tweets it means fuck tho. They know that shit feels good too...WORD

His papa comes home in 600, 700 mile races!

Depending on weather conditions, it can take him two days though!

They can flap their wings continually for up to 16 hours. No other bird can do that. They average 60 miles an hour active flight but have been clocked at bursts up to 75 MPH, more if they are in a trade wind. They are the second fastest straight flight bird. A perigren falcon has the fastest diving speed but it's average straight flight is 50 MPH.

Knee reconstruction on a pigeon :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

I never really liked birds. They're boring and you can't hug 'em.

http://www.jamiegleave.freeserve.co.uk/facts.htm

For a quick example between racing pigeons and common pigeons

Yes but they can be fried quite nicely...I can say I have ALWAYS liked birds

Are you kidding? Wikford will sit on my lap and watch TV. I can turn him on his back and rub his belly and he goes to sleep. When he was a squab, I put a flight suit on him (sort of a birdie diaper thing) and he slept on my pillow nestled under my neck!

Yea, it wasn't so funny when I paid 1200 $ for it or the 300$ in physical therapy.

Um...Some people eat those things here..we have thousands flying around

Racing Homing Pigeons have been clocked flying 92.5 mph average speed on a 400 mile race.

Homing Pigeons have been known to fly 700 miles in a day.

Pigeons have flown in many wars, including both WWI & WWII. They have saved countless lives.

Pigeons achieved a 98% success rate in the missions flown in WW II, despite enemy fire, and often with mortal injuries to themselves.

In the World Wars, flying pilots carried pigeons in case they had to ditch their plane, they would release the bird for help. Many pilots owe their lives to a pigeon.

Pigeons are still used today by the French, Swiss, Israeli, Iraqi and Chinese Armies.

Pigeons proved valuable in the Gulf War, as their messaging was not affected by the electronic jamming.

Pigeons have been bought for as much as $132,000.00 by Louella Pigeon World in 1992. "Invincible Spirit"

They have been proposed to be used by the Project Sea Hunt (U.S. Coast Guard) to spot life jackets out in the open sea.

Noah's Dove was most likely a homing pigeon.

They are bred, raised and trained as good as Thoroughbred Horses.

Around the world there are about 5 races a year with Million Dollar Purses.

There are more than a million fanciers around the world that keep pigeons, meaning there are more than 4 million kept pigeons.

Both parents feed their young milk.

They have been known to see very well over a 26 mile distance.

Scientist believe they may hear wind blowing over mountains from hundreds of miles away.

In the late 1800 the most heroic recorded flight was from a pigeon that was released in Africa and took 55 days to get home in England. Traveling over 7,000 miles.

Unless separated, pigeons mate for life.

They have been known to live over 30 years.

In the 17th century, King George I of England, decreed all pigeon droppings to be property of the Crown?and the ?lofts? were policed to enforce the law! (Pigeon manure was used in making gunpowder)

The pigeon beats its wings up to ten times per second, while maintaining a heart rate of 600 beats per minute up to 16 hours without rest.

The pigeon has the rare ability for a large bird to be able to fly nearly straight up.

Advanced studies at the University of Montana conclude: ?Pound for pound, columba livia (the pigeon) is one of the smartest, most physically adept creatures in the animal kingdom.?

Queen Elizabeth II races pigeons from the Royal Lofts at Sandringham.

Pigeons are the only bird in the world that do not have to lift their head to swallow water.

When the pigeon is in long flight, it reaches back and holds on to the short tail feathers with its feet in order to save energy from holding its legs up.

The ability to hear sounds 11 octaves below middle C allow the pigeons to detect earthquakes and electrical storms.

The top national race, Snowbird Classic, awards a purse of $600,000.

The highest priced Homing Pigeon was sold for $225,000.

Yep, they taste pretty good too, if you get them when they are young and tender about 45 days old.

Wow this is like a whole little lesson on Homing Pigeons

I dig :thumbsup

Evelyn, right on for dropping us some knowledge. i had no idea about these birds, and now i am intrigued.
i really appreciate you're giving us the 411.
oh and i love Wikfords long graceful neck! how old is he? they facts you showed us said they live about 30 years...

He's 2 1/2. His father is 6 and his mother 4. The females usually have the long necks, but he is a confirmed boy. The nik among fanciers for a feminine male is 'Henny Cock'

They race them during the first year of their lives as well. These races are known as 'young bird races'.

wik is damn cute :)

I had no idea about all this racing stuff. It's pretty cool! Thanks

Sometimes I take him to the market or on errands with me.
When I get there, I will pen a note and attach it to his foot sheath. Then I send him off and he goes straight home. He'll go in his box and ring the bell. Then Mike knows to go check the box.
I send him love notes this way.

I can honestly say that I've never known a person to have a pigeon as a pet. It is rather cute, not fat and rat-like versions they have all over the place. :thumbsup

Any animal that is feral (dog, cat, pigeon, rat, etc.) that has to live outside on it's own and forage among our waste is going to have parasites and bacteria riddling their bodies.

A homeless man here in CA can have ringworm, mites, lice, fleas, scabies, fungus, tics, tapeworm, you name it. He is still a human being, just not at his physical best for his breed. It is all environmental. In fact, it is some animals amazing adaptive abilities that allow it to survive and proliferate among the spoils of our 'domesticated' society.

That's so cute!

I wonder how the birds can find their way back home... 400-600 miles? C'mon now? Built in GPS? :Graucho

Do they orientate themselves via the magnetic field of the earth?

They seem to be very loyal "pets", too. Very fascinating, thanks for the educational thread.

Super! Very, Very nice!!!!

Id hit it! :thumbsup

:1orglaugh

I am hoping for the bird to post some more pics of you.
I seem to get addicted.
Maybe you should open your own paysite?
I would even sign up to a fully-clothed-Evelyn site...
:)

nice bird :1orglaugh

wow finally! I pigeon lover like me!
here is mine..I dont have a pick of his bitch
http://www.stunningmisty.com/pp/fouine.jpg

That's just too cute :)

That's about right! No two places on earth have the same magnetic pulse. Something in their brain waves pick it up when they are young. They can detect the slightest shift in currant. So they use this to get within range. Once they are within 50 or so miles of 'home', they use visual land cues (valleys, trees, rivers, buildings) to map their way back.

When they are young and flying around the first few times, they will keep going a little farther in each direction. They will do this for hours on end for days and days. They are making a map in their heads. We call this 'routing'

A pigeon can recognize up to 200 different peoples faces.

They were using them in Australia on an assembly line to pick out broken and damaged pills at a pharmaceutical company at one time.

I have 3 cats...two of which look almost identical. One he can push around and the other wont tolerate it as much. From a distance, he can tell which cat is which, and goes into a mocking dance display for one, and completely quiet observance for the other.

He also knows his name and comes when I call him.

I didn't know a pigeon was really a pet, I guess it could be, just not a common one. Take good care of it, there aren't many around. :winkwink:

Cute birdie! I'm glad to see another pigie owner out there!:thumbsup

cool pics :thumbsup

Nice:glugglug

I want photochops ..

I don't like birds at all, and your's isn't that cute :Graucho

nice pics and especially the last one, the cat looks like wants to eat the bird:Graucho :1orglaugh

Go sit on a live wire! :winkwink: