I have often mentioned No-Tail the pigeon, usually when writing about other happenings but now there is a surprising change in his life.
He has been here for a number of years looking back through the blog, I seem to have first written about No-Tail on 8th January 2007 and his mate has been with him almost as long, he is never far from the garden and always nests within its confines. He can usually be found perching on one of the trees,resting or feeding on one of the lawns or feeding at one of the food stations.
He has always been with the same mate, clearly the tail is not part of the attraction with pigeons as he has none, as his name suggests. With no tail he not only looks different, but his gait is much more swaying than a normal pigeons and there is a subtle difference in the way he flies.
Each year No-Tail builds the nest, and his compliant mate dutifully lays the eggs, sadly they rarely have squabs because the squirrels usually find the nest and eat the eggs. They build another nest, lay more eggs and still the squirrels often find it. A few years back they did successfully breed but when the youngster grew up he was driven away.
In the surrounding countryside we often see huge flocks of pigeons, but the garden is kept quite clear of these by No-Tail. He is very territorial about his garden and other pigeon/s who visit are sent on their way without ceremony. Apart from when he drove away Broken Wing, this has until now been the only time we have seen an aggressive side to No-Tail.
Some weeks ago I wrote about a new pigeon in the garden, he/she was a very dirty and scruffy looking pigeon, who skulked about under the edges of bushes. The newcomer tended to stay away from No-Tail and his mate and they for their part ignored him. The newcomer kept as much as he/she could to him/her self, hanging around on the fringes, never pushing in, eating after No-Tail and his mate had finished. Over the weeks the newcomer looked less dirty and better groomed, definitely a lot less dishevelled.
I noticed that although he never joined No-Tail and his partner, he/she was gradually creeping nearer to them. They continued to ignore the newcomer.
One morning I looked out and was surprised to see all three pigeons feeding together. More surprises were to come though. Over the next few days the three continued to not only feed together, but also to roost at night near to each other on the same branch, they also perched together in the daytime.
Three days ago I looked out and saw only No-Tail and the newcomer feeding together, as I watched I saw No-Tail's partner fly down to join them. She was quickly set upon by No-tail, who drove her away to the far side of the lawn. Each time she tried to join them, No-Tail chased her away.
He would fly across to her landing on her back, she would extricate herself and move away, but each time she tried to move nearer the same happened. Eventually she flew right away out of the garden. Each time she tried to return, this behaviour continued, throughout Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, then she learned to keep away from the other two. The rolls are switched she now feeds alone when the other two are not around and perches night and day on a tree branch across the road.
No-Tail was so faithful to her for so many years, they were always together, feeding, grooming, billing and cooing, roosting and perching together, where one was so was the other and yet now they are as far apart as they had previously been close.
If anyone can scientifically explain No-Tails behaviour to his mate of many years, I would be interested to hear.
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