Street Creatures

Pigeons are the urban birds seemingly everyone loves to hate… but I have to wonder if all that animosity is actually just envy disguised as distain.

Because, by any measure you care to choose, pigeons are the Olympic champions of adaptation… of turning a challenging sequence of events into an opportunity that benefits the individual AND the entire species… of figuring out how to exploit your tormentor.

If that’s piqued your interest, check out award-winning natural journalist David Quammen’s essay titled “Superdove on 46th Street,” which you can find in his book Wild Thoughts from Wild Places. (Photo by Matt Perich, ccl by 2.0).

… but, that said, in all the years I’ve observed and even worked hands-on with owls, I’ve never seen one of these über-serious raptors crack a smile, or even a smirk. They truly have no sense of HOOO-mor lol (Photo by Loco Steve, ccl by-sa 2.0).

Coyotes have expanded their range greatly over the past century but they haven’t yet jumped the pond to the British Isles… which only makes this surprise appearance in Camden, London, even more startling! (Photo by Maureen Barlin, ccl by-nc-nd 2.0).