Birding

Bathing Crested Pigeons

October 16, 2011 by Clare M 3 Comments

Before we went away for a few weeks we only had a Crested Pigeon visit our garden occasionally, but we now have a regular visitor. It comes in early in the day for a drink and returns later in the afternoon. The Bar-shouldered and Peaceful Doves are a bit wary of it as it is a somewhat larger bird at approximately 35cm. We left a dripping water source for the birdlife in our absence and they have got rather used to wandering the garden and verandahs! This week we put some extra water on the back lawn-well, it isn’t much lawn at the moment due to the lack of rain for months on end. We actually put it on more for the benefit of the birds and ourselves as they really are quite amusing as they bathe under the sprinklers. The Crested Pigeon endeavored to get all parts of it’s body wet!

Crested Pigeon getting a good bathe!

As you can see from the photographs this bird was really taking advantage of an opportunity to cool off and get wet! After looking at thousands of shorebirds in Roebuck Bay, recording and entering data during the week and being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers that are returning safely from the north it is nice to amuse yourself at home with a little water and a Crested Pigeon!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!