Tim Gallagher points to this BBC video of Golden Eagles hunting reindeer, and reminds me that a link to my piece on Darwin’s pigeons is up at Living Bird. Meanwhile MaryBeth Rogers sends this link to paragliding with eagles (well, mostly vultures, but it still looks like fun!) An unfortunate Golden eagle was taken from …
Tag: Pigeons
“Pigeons” 2: New Gorbatov
At Al’s Eagle Hunter site is among other delights the biggest gallery of Vadim Gorbatov prints available on line. He has just added two new ones: Kublai Khan’s Hunting Trip and Frederic II’s Hunting Trip: I have a huge artist’s proof of the Kublai, but you can get a smaller version for pretty cheap, and …
Pigeons Plus
Or, from pigeons to eagles to art. The whole thread started when artist Graeme Boyd of my pigeon discussion group emailed us this video of Chinese pigeons being flown with whistles. Everyone knows that this is an interest of mine. I even have a collection, sent to me by a German scholar who taught in …
Iron Loft
Artist and pigeon breeder Graeme Boyd sent these amazing photos of a vault- like loft. When I asked him why it was fortified he responded: “So that thieves would need an angle grinder or suchlike to get into it. It’s a cut-throat business flying pigeons in Edinburgh.” !!
Domestic Animals: Diverse Phenotypes Imply Diverse genotypes
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I distrust the narrowing of the gene pool that comes from closed studbooks. Right now the Central Asian sighthound gene pool is vast and diverse; many want to cut it into several standardized breeds. One reason i fear regulation is because I work against this trend with dogs. …
Links
Like Rebecca I have been out walking. Also gardening– it is good for the souls. There will be pictures below. Meanwhile, the usual miscellany.. Patrick links to this Telegraph story about the use of pigeons to pay kidnap ransoms in Iraq. “One family attached $10,000 in $100 notes to the legs of five homing pigeons, …
Convergent Pigeons
Reader Mike Spies, who has a place in Jamaica, noticed that wild White- crowned pigeons (Columba leucocephala) resident there resembled some white- capped Catalonian tumblers he had seen on the blog. Of course, “Cats” are only one of the myriad breeds of Darwin’s pets, domestic pigeons descended from the Rock dove (Columba livia.) But the …
Pigeon Forum Broodstock
Our little crew of scientists, artists, eccentrics, and breeders is always doing something interesting– crossing, putting in new colors, developing flying traits. As we begin the season here are few of our odd birds. Jake’s Bagdad (I may cross this bird on homers to improve its lost flying ability.) His “Chinese owls”, neither Chinese nor …
The Roller Scandal
Eight (so far) California roller pigeon fanciers have been targeted in a Federal sting operation and accused of killing as many as 2000 raptors, apparently mostly urban Cooper’s hawks. Some of the info is pretty ugly: “Navarro allegedly told an undercover Fish and Wildlife Service agent that he likes to “pummel” the hawks that he …
Animal Family
Just got a photo of Ataika’s daughter Cleo from the Beregovoys. She looks remarkably like Atai. And for any pigeon fanciers, here is one of my new pairs, gold- necked Catalonian tumblers: