Yanhong Ding
Chase the Sunset
Pigeons, rats of the sky as some call them, are much more wonderful than the common house rat that goes around chewing on cabinet doors. They were the first domesticated bird and most likely originated 3000-5000 years ago in the mediterraneans.1 Pigeons, whose scientific family is Columbidae, includes over 300 species. However, the pigeons that are seen in cities today are probably descendants of domesticated pigeons that were released from captivity.2 But that does not mean all domestic pigeons are the gray or white birds that flock to breadcrumbs and any food that has fallen on the floor. There are over 1000 breeds of domestic pigeons and all have descended from a single species, the rock dove3 and these domestic ones range from looking like a peafowl in the Archangel breed to homing pigeons that can fly for 1800 km.4
The other place where pigeons are common besides the streets are in religion and politics. While the bird associated with peace is probably dove, pigeons and doves are basically the same thing from a scientific perspective — both refer to birds of the Columbidae family.5 Indeed, doves and pigeons are not differentiated in many other European languages such as Spanish and French. In the ancient mediterranean, where pigeons were first domesticated, pigeons were a symbol of fertility and love. Doves are the birds of Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility and war in Mesopotamia.6 Doves are also the birds of Aphrodites.7 The Aphrodite Pandemos near Athenian Acropolis was decorated with sculptures of doves and during Aphrodisia, the festival for Aphrodites, the altar is purified with the blood of a dove.8 In Rome Venus, the god of love and beauty, is also often depicted with doves. In the bible, the dove was one of the animals that Noah used to see if there was land. The dove with the olive branch that commonly represented peace also stemmed from the bible.9
Aside from the numerous cultural aspects of pigeons, they were also important in the practical aspect. From food to war, pigeons appeared in almost every aspect of society. In food, the most recognizable name for pigeon is squab, which specifically refers to a young pigeon and it is often considered as a delicacy.10 In fact, the work squab was most likely of Scandinavian origin meaning fatty flesh which is quite the fitting name.11 Aside from being of culinary importance, pigeons were also used throughout history as messengers. In Rome, pigeons were used to carry messages in order to communicate across distance and coordinate for war and this practice of using pigeons to communicate was so reliable that it persisted all the way until the Second World War.12
The homing capability of pigeons is believed to be a combination of the pigeons ability to sense the magnetic field and to remember landmarks on travel routes.13 But, what if there were no home? The pigeon flies back to where it had grown, but what if one had stayed in many places, but never long enough to call one home. I had been to snowy places, where the winter was cold enough to freeze rivers solid and cover everything in a thick layer of white. I remember sitting by the hearth listening to tales of snow fairy as the howling winter wind blended with the crackles of the fire. I had also been to places with hot summers and cold winters where instead of a thick white blanket in the winter, a light, sparkling dusting covers everything. I also lived in economic capitals, where skyscrapers looked as if they were littered all over the city and I was born in a place I hardly knew at all. What is home? If it is understood literally, then of course I know what it is, but it is hardly ever used literally. Is home where one likes the most? Is it where one knows the people around them? I do not have any place I like in particular, and I never stayed anywhere long enough to have close friends. Everywhere I go, I can blend into my surroundings, but is that being at home? Or is it just being an imposter at someone else's home— a foreigner for a lifetime? If I feel like I am at home while on a trip, is it because of the place, or is it because of the people with me on the trip? Perhaps home is where the heart is after all.
The pigeon is a wonderful creature that has accompanied and fascinated humanity for centuries and one of its most useful properties stems from its ability to fly back to its home. A pigeon set free will always try to fly back to its home. But what if it does not have a home? Will it just wander the world without a place to ever set foot or will it try to make a place its home? What about a person without a home? Is it ever too late to make a place home? Perhaps not, and perhaps that is the goal many chase under the drifting clouds and the passing sun.
Endnotes
[1] Stringham, Sidney A., et al. “Divergence, convergence, and the ancestry of feral populations in the domestic rock pigeon.” NCBI, 21 February 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3288640/.
[2] BBC. “Pigeon.” BBC, October 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20180708135927/http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/nature/life/Rock_Pigeon.
[3] Blechman, Andrew D. Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird. Grove Press, 2007.
[4] Walcott, Charles. “Pigeon Homing: Observations, Experiments and Confusions.” The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 199, no. 1, 1996, pp. 21-27. The Company of Biologists, https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/199/1/21/7360/Pigeon-Homing-Observations-Experiments-and.
[5] “Dove or Pigeon?” BirdNote, 30 December 2023, https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/dove-or-pigeon.
[6] “Ancient Near East.” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume VI, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990, pp. 35-36.
[7] Aphrodite, by Monica S. Cyrino, Taylor & Francis, 2012, pp. 120-123.
[8] Aphrodite, by Monica S. Cyrino, Taylor & Francis, 2012, pp. 48
[9] Segond, Louis, editor. La sainte Bible. Translated by Louis Segond, Société biblique de Genève, 1993.
[10] Grim, Ryan. “Everything You Should Know About Squab.” Food & Wine, 13 September 2022, https://www.foodandwine.com/cooking-techniques/the-tastiest-bird-you-can-legally-eat.
[11] “Squab Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squab#word-history.
[12] Corera, Gordon, et al. “Operation Columba.” London Review of Books, 4 April 2019, https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n07/jon-day/operation-columba.
Works Cited
Aphrodite, by Monica S. Cyrino, Taylor & Francis, 2012.
“Ancient Near East.” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume VI, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer
Ringgren, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.
BBC. “Pigeon.” BBC, October 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20180708135927/
http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/nature/life/Rock_Pigeon.
Blechman, Andrew D. Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird. Grove Press, 2007.
Corera, Gordon, et al. “Operation Columba.” London Review of Books, 4 April 2019, https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-
paper/v41/n07/jon-day/operation-columba.
“Dove or Pigeon?” BirdNote, 30 December 2023, https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/dove-or-pigeon.
Grim, Ryan. “Everything You Should Know About Squab.” Food & Wine, 13 September 2022, https://www.foodandwine.com/
cooking-techniques/the-tastiest-bird-youcan-legally-eat.
“How do pigeons find their way home? We looked in their ears with a diamond-based quantum microscope to find out : Find
an Expert : The University of Melbourne.” Find an Expert, 15 November 2021, https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/
news/34101-how-do-pigeons-find-their-way-home%3F-we-looked-in-their-ears-with-adiamond-based-quantum-microscope-
to-find-out.
Segond, Louis, editor. La sainte Bible. Translated by Louis Segond, Société biblique de Genève, 1993.
“Squab Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squab#word-history.
Stringham, Sidney A., et al. “Divergence, convergence, and the ancestry of feral populations in the domestic rock pigeon.”
NCBI, 21 February 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3288640/.
Walcott, Charles. “Pigeon Homing: Observations, Experiments and Confusions.” The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 199,
no. 1, 1996, pp. 21-27. The Company of Biologists, https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/199/1/21/7360/
Pigeon-Homing-Observations-Experiments-and.
Yanhong Ding is a seventeen year old currently studying at Punahou. He had lived in many different places and in this essay, he decides to explore the idea of belonging. The author connects the idea of belonging to the pigeon’s determination to fly back home. Through contrasting how the author feels about belonging and how pigeons feel, the author hopes to incentivize the reader to think about where they belong and why.
Photo by staff