Rule #1: Abby’s in Charge.
Rule #2: Abby’s not in charge.
Meet Abby:
Abby is a survivor of the cruel “sport” of pigeon racing. Hungry, tired, and lost, he knew he needed help and wandered into a backyard and walked fearlessly up to a big dog – he knew he needed a human’s kind hand, and the homeowner provided it. He’s been with Palomacy ever since.
I currently foster Abby and his wife, Sprocket (a lucky-to-be-alive Roller pigeon), and I can attest that he is no longer hungry or lost, and he almost never seems tired. He spends a great deal of his time vigilantly guarding the window shelf (as demonstrated above). As soon as these two joined my aviary, that entire window area became off-limits to all but Abby and his wife. Cantaloupe and Paige, and Pidgy and Beanie can only look on with envy at what was once communal ground. As time went on, Abby began expanding his territory, which grew to include the top of every nest box and half of the ramp leading to the window platform.
Needless to say, I was not happy at all with this brazen land grab. But the final straw was when he tried extending his domain to include the very floor of the aviary — where the large food dish is! This I just could not abide, so I set about devising a solution. After seeking guidance from some of my Palomacy peeps, I decided to try building a time-out area for Abby — yes, a sort of pigeon jail… I hated to do it, but I also believed it was unfair for four other pigeons to be stressed during breakfast!
Since Abby and Sprocket maintain two residences — one up in the rafters and one in the lower level of what I call “the Apartments” — I decided the apartment made the most sense for this modification. Using a piece of hardware cloth cut to the size of the nestbox opening, I put pieces of insulation foam along each edge (to prevent any birds getting nicked on the sharp edges) and then held those in place with some yarn wrapped all the way around. The trickiest part was figuring out how to attach it to the box. I didn’t want to put hooks or nails on the front of the box for fear someone would get snagged on them. So I decided to put the hooks in the back wall of the Apartments. Then I attached a small bungie cord to each hook. The hardware square can then be held in place by attaching the other ends of the bungie cords to it.
The Initial Test
Once everything was in place, I went through my normal morning routine of cleaning, filling up water bowls, adding pine needles, looking for eggs, etc. Then it was time to put the food down. I have a small dish on the window walk for Abby and Sprocket, a small dish on a corner platform for Paige and Cantaloupe, and a grass platform for Beanie and Pidgy. That allows everyone to get some food before Abby starts his harassment campaign. One by one, he visits each food dish and chases off the diners. Everyone then heads to the floor to the big dish that, theoretically, is meant for all. As soon as Abby landed and began interfering in everyone’s breakfast, I scooped him up, placed him in his nest box, added a little food, and closed the new door. He was not pleased.
Honestly, everyone was confused at first. Abby most of all, but also Sprocket, who immediately flew to the porch and stared through the bars at her mate. Though also confused, Cantaloupe, Paige, Pidgy and Beanie all quickly made their way to the window walk to enjoy the first leisurely breakfast they’d had in a very long time.
I let everyone enjoy some Abby-free time and the atmosphere had most definitely changed. I hadn’t seen the rest of the gang so relaxed in a quite a while. They looked like they were on vacation. Sprocket remained on the visiting porch throughout Abby’s entire confinement, which lasted approximately 30 minutes.
Once released, Abby flew immediately to his rafter nest and Sprocket rushed to his side for a joyful reunion.
Results
The next day, my morning routine complete, I put the food bowls down and stepped aside to observe. To my great surprise, Abby kept his bossiness in check (although I suspect some of the behavior change was me forcefully staring at him and pointing a finger if he looked like he wanted to start something). The day after that, same story. On day 3, I tried stepping out of the aviary after placing the food down. Abby waited all of five seconds before chasing everyone (except Sprocket) away. I quickly went inside and put Abby back in jail to think about his behavior.
It appears that a half hour every few days is not enough to truly change Abby’s behavior. My plan is to gradually increase the length of his time-outs. Given his quick response to a half hour, I feel fairly confident that eventually we will find the sweet spot where he will really cement the understanding in his brain that he needs to change…
Don’t get the wrong idea — Abby and Sprocket are a lot of fun to have in the aviary. Their devotion to each other is inspiring, as is the way they equally share household duties like nest building and fegg sitting. They also take turns sitting on each other. I think Abby prefers being the chair, but he’ll perch on top of Sprocket if circumstances allow.
Sprocket and Abby are available for adoption, by the way. To fill out an adoption application, click here.
