It is my belief that pigeons (and by 'pigeons' I mean the birds that everyone complains about, that gather in great groups in large cities and all that most people notice about them is that they tend to poop. Of course, everybody poops - so it doesn't seem fair to hold that against them) are actually completely delightful creatures. I intend to create several posts to support this argument. This one, however, won't. It simply proposes a set of conventions by which I believe that all urban pigeons can be named. The system will not result in unique naming of individual pigeons, but will allow users to identify the various different color and behavioral patterns of the pigeons in their midst, and to appropriately address the various pigeons, should they care to do so.
If you take the time to notice, you'll see that pigeons (aka 'rock doves', aka 'columbia livia') come in a rainbow of color patterns. The most commonly found pattern, however, is the
blue-bar pattern.
Here is a pigeon of that pattern. Pigeons in this color category are most felicitously named "
Cap'n" - at least in the absence of other defining features, as will be discussed in later posts. If there are two such pigeons and you wish to discriminate between them, the larger or more prominent looking pigeon should be referred as "
Cap'n", and the smaller or more retiring looking pigeon should be called "
Sarge". In a group of three blue-bars, if ever you encounter one, the smallest or least dominant bird should be referred to as "
Gomer".
Another common color morph is the
checkered bird.
These birds are both of the checkered variety, though it is clear that they deserve very different names. Standardly, a checkered pigeon may always be called "
Checkers". However, more specific names are also acceptable. For example, the pigeon in the foreground of the photo has a very strong pattern of light and dark on his wings, with an overall pattern similar to the blue-bar except without the bars. His irridescence is of the green-blue variety. This pigeon should be called "
Chuck" or "
Chuckie" (unless the namer wishes to refer to the much lighter grey color of his legs and lower torso - this could lead to a different nominclature entirely). The pigeon in the background has a more subtle checkering pattern, and irridescence of the green-lilac variety. This bird should be named "
Flick" or "
Flicka".
Some pigeons are of a single shade, ranging from nearly black, through blues and pearly greys. These are referred to as
spread colorations. A dark grey spread bird can be seen
here. For these birds a range of names based directly on their colors should be employed. For example "
Blackie", "
Smokey", "
Pearl", or "
Blue"
Each of the varieties mentioned above is fundamentally colored blue or grey. However, two color morphs are based upon birds who are fundamentally reddish brown or rust colored. The first of these two is the
red, who can be seen
here. Reds should of course be called "
Red" or else "
Rusty" or else "
Rosie", depending upon their hue and disposition.
Pigeons also come in a
red-bar pattern. For example,
this one. These birds have a smokey grey appearance, and copper colored wing-bars. Such birds should be called, as a default, "
Comrade". A formidible red-bar pigeon may be referred to as "
Commissar" - but this should not be frequently used. (Under some very limited conditions, one can imagine a red-bar who should be addressed as "
Ivan Denisovich", but such naming strategies are by and large outside the scope of this project).
The last of the 'official' color morphs (other than the lovely all-white pigeons, discussed below) is the
pied. Pigeons with significant white patches are considered pieds, regardless of the color of their overall presentation. A pied bird, such as
this one should be referred to as "
Stripey", or in more formal situations, "
Tux" - but clearly these names are not appropriate for all pieds-only those whose base color is a deep grey or black and whose white bits are crisp and striking to behold. Other correct names for pieds are "
Patches" if the bird has a very patchy or blotchy appearance, "
CoCo" if the bird is red/brown with white patches (like cocoa with mini-marshmallows), as
the bird at the bottom of this photo is, and "
Cloudy" if the bird is basically
grey with white.
A note to the wise - the latter three birds described in the previous paragraph may be called, by some fanciers
splash rather than
pied. Perhaps they're correct to do so.
The
white pigeons such as these must be called "
Angel" or "
Peacey", or perhaps even "
Paloma" or "
Jesus" (as in the Spanish name, not the Anglicized pronunciation). Seeing such a bird is especially propitious, and should be regarded as such.
These are the names that should be assigned based upon color morph only. However, pigeons may have specific patterns of color marking that go beyond mere color morph, and they may also have particular behaviors, manners of movement, or habits which may also be used to determine their names. In subsequent posts, I will lay out the naming conventions based on these additional factors.
