For the past few days, a strange phenomenon is happening.
Pikoo and his family spend more time in my balcony than anywhere else. Earlier they used to fly away when I tried to get near the sliding windows of the balcony. Nowadays, no matter how close I get to the windows, the birds remain unruffled.
Several times, I have created a big, wide opening by sliding all the three windows to one extreme corner. This opening can allow them to easily fly into the living room of the house. However, they don’t come inside.
Oddly, they are far less scared even when I make eye contact with them. Is it the beginning of a bird-human symbiotic relationship?
Nowadays, Pikoo and another young pigeon, whom I fondly call ‘Bannu’, spend their nights on the topmost grill of the balcony. Bannu is extremely clever. Everyday, she occupies the rightmost corner of the topmost grill on a first-come-first-serve basis. Since, Pikoo comes a bit late, he has no choice but to take the leftmost corner. This does not happen without a mock fight.
Pikoo and Bannu sit opposite to each other and extend one of their wings on a full stretch to push the other one away. This is akin to two samurai warriors displaying a game of swordsmanship on a tightrope.
Then, they try to flap their wings at each other animatedly for a few minutes. Eventually they stop. Evidence shows that Bannu has maintained the coveted ‘rightmost’ position on the topmost grill for two consecutive nights. Such is love.
Another peculiar thing I have noticed is that pigeons sleep in the night, standing on only one of their feet. They draw back the other foot close up to their body, so much so that it appears that this foot has somewhat disappeared. They curl up with beak close to chin and eyes closed – completely still.
Good on you Bannu. More power to women. Please hang on to your territory.
If Charles Darwin had paid more attention to female pigeons, his theory would still be alive today.