Strong Pigeon


Not the most exciting bird species on the planet but I'm always surprised when this bird shows up on my window ledge. Something happened to its right foot and it's missing all but one toe and has some kind of ball-like knob on the bottom of that foot. The incredible thing is that this particular bird has survived at least two Minnesota winters. It's the toughest bird, often pushing other pigeons off the ledge to have sole access to food. It survives quite well without my feeding too. I haven't put any seed out for two months because squirrels chewed a hole in my screen so I quit feeding for awhile. Today, I scattered some seed out to see who would come and this was my first visitor. I'm always so impressed by this bird, and it reminds me that birds are often a lot tougher than we give them credit for.