Pigeons and Doves

Doves and pigeons, pigeons and doves: ever since I was a little girl, I’ve noticed them. In my experience, I've found pigeons to be city birds, while doves live in smaller communities or in the country. 

Years ago, even centuries ago, people hunted both birds for food. Even now, they are still hunted in some parts of the world. Over the years, I’ve been acquainted with a few people who hunt doves, and I’ve known some who shoot pigeons because they are considered to be nuisance birds, but I've never known anyone who hunts pigeons to provide food for their families. I’ve enjoyed eating pheasants, quail, and wild turkey, and I’ve suffered through meals of duck and goose, but I’ve never eaten either pigeons (sometimes called squabs) or doves. In the US, pigeons are not currently a popular food because they can’t be raised commercially in large numbers, making them too expensive to eat. I suspect the same is true for doves. Additionally, even country pigeons are associated with the feral city flocks that are considered to be “dirty” because people tend to feed them their trash. It’s no wonder most people in the US have little interest in eating pigeons.

I remember the doves on the farm, roosting in the barn or perching on top of the yard light. I will never forget their constant, comforting coos. A few years later, after we left the farm, I could still hear the doves at Grandma’s house in Bloomfield. Even now, whenever I hear the resounding call of the dove that likes to perch on top of my kitchen chimney, I’m transported back to those times on the farm and at Grandma’s house. For me, the dove’s call is a gentle, homey reminder of simpler times.

My first experience with pigeons happened when I was about five years old, soon after we moved into our ground floor apartment at the Oxnard Hotel in Norfolk. The hotel was located at 201 Norfolk Avenue, in the center of downtown Norfolk. The pigeons congregated on top of the old buildings that lined the street, often swooping down to the sidewalk in search of some tasty tidbits.

The Oxnard, built in the late 1800s, was an imposing, three story, brick building with a partial fourth floor that originally housed the maids’ quarters. When my family lived in the Oxnard, the maids’ quarters were totally unused, since maids were no longer provided with free rooms at their place of work. In fact, the top floor was no longer fit for use, because most of the windows were broken, making it possible for the pigeons to fly inside to roost and poop.

The poop-covered floors didn’t bother me. Instead, I was intrigued with those three small, empty rooms situated at the very top of the hotel, with only a few pigeons left to live there. When Mom and Dad took me with them to explore the maids’ quarters, I wondered about those young women who had lived there half a century before, and I couldn’t help but daydream a little about what life would have been like for them. To me, those few lofty rooms, with their windows overlooking the busy city street, seemed a little like the top of a castle, pigeons and all.

Recently, as I was parking in front of the hair salon, I noticed a few gray pigeons in downtown Scottsbluff. As usual, some were perched on top of an old building, while others strutted down the sidewalk in search of a little lunch. The passing cars didn’t faze them at all. They didn’t flit up to the rooftop until I slammed my car door.

Pigeons and doves are often mentioned in the Bible as alternative sacrificial animals, acceptable offerings to God for the people who couldn’t afford a lamb. (See Leviticus 14:22.)

When Noah released a dove from the ark, that dove eventually returned to him with an olive leaf in its beak, bringing proof that the floodwaters had receded enough so the trees could grow. The dove offered hope that everyone would soon be able to leave the ark and start living on solid ground again. (See Genesis 8:10-11.)

Since ancient times, doves have been a universally beloved bird. The dove is the most mentioned bird in the Bible, with 47 different references throughout the Old and New Testaments. Throughout scripture, a dove often represents the Holy Spirit. (See Matthew 3: 13-17.) Doves symbolize new beginnings, peace, and the presence of God. 

All of this makes sense to me. I love to watch the pigeons, but hearing a dove often gives me a lasting sense of peace.

 

“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you more valuable to him than they are?”  Matthew 6: 26