Of Birds and Men

In the past two days I saw two interesting bird events. Something as simple as the relationship between men and birds can seem so different in different cultures, and I don't just mean the dishes we put them in. Birds here usually are for eating, but sometimes, just sometimes for pleasure.

I saw a collection of white pigeons in the park the other day. While this may not seem like a revolutionary observation, the more I think about it the more interesting it becomes. Pigeons of any sort are rare in Shanghai. I tend to think they're all eaten by the locals (hence the number of pigeon dishes in the restaurants) but I have no proof. Instead, these birds are clearly government sanctioned, complete with ankle tags and a seed-selling vendor nearby: These are show birds, which may explain why they're white. Most pigeons I've seen are a mix of black and grey, with the occasionally albino thrown in, but this group was all white. I guess they just looked cleaner, I can't think of any other reason. It also mystifies me because when I show my students pictures of doves they always call them pigeons. I can't help but wonder about the unique pack of strange white pigeons in a city devoid of free birds.

But this pales in comparison to what I saw yesterday - a man walking his bird. The man carried a cage alongside him, while his small black bird flew in a zig zag patter across the path in front of him, pausing each time to make sure his master was still with him. This bird, untethered as far as I could see, flew alongside his master up the path and onto the steps to their apartment. At this point, the man bent over, opened the cage door and the bird hopped inside. I couldn't scarcely believe it. I've heard of birds with loyalty to their masters, and seen it in movies, but to see a bird act like a dog was a totally new experience. I love it.