18 Pigeon Tales : Benji's Shenanigans

So cute that I look forward to it! Benji is one of the most adventurous pigeons I know. Remember my previous post on her varied choice of food? I believe she's kind of a foodie, in the bird kingdom of course.

Sometimes she pops in just to hang out, roaming my little green space for close to an hour before flying off again. I had no idea how territorial Benji was until another pigeon tried to land on the ledge. It was so surprising to see my cute buddy flapping her wings with mighty force to shoo the other bird away. The stranger, possibly a younger pigeon, was spooked and it looked like I'm destined to care for two pigeons and no more, that is Benji and Gaston. But inside me was a hope that the little guy will come back. And he did, but cautiously, avoiding the usual time my funny bird would be there.

This is a video of Benji checking out my Pak Choy greens. Yep, she took a bite and threw it away. She also stomped on the 2-week old vegetable. From the internet, I learned that pigeons do eat young leafy greens. No wonder the older plant was left untouched. Luckily, my poor plant survived the ordeal. In fact, it is ready for harvest today. Benji hopped on to the next pot and proceeded to eat my succulents. See? Foodie. She also regularly nibbles on my rosemary plant after each meal of seeds.

More recently, I saw Benji walking up and down my balcony in search of something. She finally settled on my orchid plant which had purple blooms and started tugging on a long root. She succeeded and flew away with it. It was a joy to see but I now had doubts about Benji's gender. You see, I had read somewhere that male pigeons gathered nesting material for the female. Benji was clearly looking for 'stuff' to build a nest! Well, until I know for sure, I will still refer to Benji as a 'her' .

I don't talk much about the other two pigeons who visit me because they're extremely neat and well-behaved as opposed to Benji. They clean up every seed that is put out there, leave nothing behind and fly off. This does not mean that they are not adorable. They are, and have their own quirks too. Benji, on the other hand, is always up to mischief. She eats, she daydreams ..yes, she does. She takes several short breaks to appreciate the sky whilst eating - which is why she takes a...g....e......s to finish her meal.

Benji's Planter Box and The Mess She Makes After Eating

For the past few days, Benji has been behaving jealously. It's funny, I know but I think Benji suspects that I've been feeding the little stranger behind her back. I've put out more food than usual, and in three different places. Benji goes to her usual spot in the plant container to eat the seeds I have placed there for her. After getting her fill, she pops out, heads to the other corner and starts swishing away the rest of the seeds on the floor in some sort of cute rampage. Yep, she created a big mess on purpose! For four days straight!

I never imagined a day that I would be enamoured by pigeons. Cats, maybe. Dogs, maybe. Not pigeons. It always seemed that they were a flock of characterless birds that I would never be able to tell apart. How wrong I was!

A packet of bird seeds costs between RM6 to RM9 and it lasted two months for me. Just to give you an idea how much I'm spending on my two, now three bird buddies.

Sunset

I hope you enjoyed reading about my naughty bird. 😉 To end, I leave you with a picture of a beautiful sunset taken from my balcony and wish you a lovely week ahead.