Every year at Christmas – and I admit, this isn’t very topical – we sing about two turtle doves, but would you know a turtle dove if you saw one? It’s basically a really pretty pigeon, but there are two good reasons why you’ve probably never seen one at Christmas: 1 They’re the fastest declining bird species in the UK; 2 They’re not here at Christmas.
But now – and this is quite topical – is the time of year when the turtle dove makes the 3,000 mile return flight from its winter holidays in sub-Saharan Africa and takes up residence in the hedgerows of Blighty. It’s funny, isn’t it? You look at a pigeon and never imagine the talents they possess, but these birds deserve our respect. Way before Nando’s, they kept us fed through the winter. And way before the mobile phone, they kept us in touch.
Our relationship with domesticated pigeons goes back 5,000 years, and despite the addictive allure of smartphones and space rockets and online gaming, we can still be captivated by this small feathery package.
In November 2020, a Belgian racing pigeon was sold at auction for €1.6million. The bidding had started 90 minutes earlier at just €200. That makes the rug I sold on eBay this week for £99 pale into insignificance. It makes you want to go and have a rummage in the loft and see if you’ve got any pigeons in there that you don’t need any more.
The buyer was a Chinese pigeon fancier. Pigeon fancying is big in China. They hold the record for the longest pigeon race. In July 1994 they released 1,671 pigeons and set them the challenge of flying 2,050 miles home. Only four made it, the first of which was the controversially named Korla Kamikaze, who completed the journey in 20 days. So what, you wonder, happened to the other 1,667? That’s a lot of prime racing pigeon real estate scattered to the winds.
But we don’t just keep pigeons for racing. There’s a category called fancy pigeons, which are bred for their appearance. Think Crufts only with pigeons. Then there are performing pigeons, like the tumblers and rollers, which put on incredible aerobatic displays, flying up in the air and then tumbling earthwards as if they’ve been shot. Most bizarre of all are the Parlor Rollers, which don’t fly but turn somersaults on the ground. You roll them like a bowling ball and they just keep going. The one that rolls the furthest is the winner. Don’t believe me? Have a look.
With all this going on, it’s surprising pigeons don’t feature in the Olympic Games. The only time they have was at the Paris Olympics of 1900, when they were used as live targets for the shooting competition! Seems a waste of talent. Wouldn’t you rather watch pigeon rolling than basketball?
So how big can a pigeon grow to be? I’ll tell you. The biggest pigeon we know about is a Canadian Giant Runt Cock (careful how you say that), which weighed in at a whopping 4lb. Imagine getting on the wrong end of that as you saunter under a railway bridge! It would knock you out cold.
And how fast can a pigeon fly? Well, the fastest pigeon on record clocked 110mph during a race from East Croydon to East Anglia, but that was heavily wind assisted, and it was trying to get away from East Croydon. In stable conditions they rarely top 60mph.
I discovered all this because I heard Kid Creole and the Coconuts singing Stool Pigeon this week and it made me wonder where that expression for a police informant comes from. Why a pigeon? And why a stool?
As per usual, the origin is disputed. There are records from the early 1800s of pigeon catchers using a pigeon tied to a ‘stool’ or perch to lure other pigeons, but this smacks of one of those made up historical ‘facts’ that are conveniently retro-fitted onto the question.
In the 1500s the word ‘stall’ came over from France for a pigeon used as a decoy to catch a hawk. Stall pigeon? Stool pigeon? That seems more plausible, but make your own mind up. Or don’t bother. It’s really up to you. There are other meanings of stool, of course, but we can leave that for another time.
