just saw a pigeon doing the puffed up courtship dance thing to another pigeon, and as he was strutting around he suddenly stopped for a split second to do a very brief preen-peck at his own side, then returned to the strutting around. and i surprised myself by instantly losing respect for the male pigeon in that moment, like come on man i appreciate you had an itch or whatever but how is she supposed to feel special when you're getting distracted by bullshit like that? which on reflection i don't endorse, i mean those are pretty harsh dating norms i'm imposing on these pigeons, from a total outsider perspective, for no reason. probably not all girl pigeons are as uptight about that sort of thing as i would apparently be if i was a girl pigeon, maybe she even found it endearing who knows, i don't know her. it's none of my business really. sorry pigeons.
This is a regular part of the display! Self-preening quickly at the base of the wings, in a way that looks nervous or habitual rather than done for any effect on the feathers, is common to see in many pigeons while showing off; it wasn’t just that fellow lacking suavity.
And if the courtship prospers it’s done more frequently; I’ve seen many pigeon pairs billing vigorously, walking round each other in little circles, with the presumptive male stopping every few seconds to preen at the base of his wings thus, often while the other one tries to stick her beak inside his impatiently (“Stop fussing with your suit and kiss me”). They sometimes even delay sex to do it, which seems counterproductive, while the other bird is crouching down inviting them, and may change her mind at any second. I think of it as something like a human nervously smoothing their hair before asking someone out. I believe it’s what’s called displacement activity - nervous tension or conflicting impulses spilling out in useless but safe habitual actions.
o-craven-canto
