The biggest bennie of attaching a Creative Commons license to your work is the unanticipated adaptation of that work in a share-alike universe. What? That is to say, I love the chain reaction that ensues from a single act of licensing — seeing the places your work travels, usually with proper attribution and adherence to…
Parrot City
I haven’t visited my parrot people in recent weeks. The last time I saw them was on a mission for Parrot Patrol, checking up on them, making sure people were behaving around San Francisco’s finest.
Noah the Pigeon
When you work in any facet of animal rescue, you hear stories. Often, the worst stories — one-act plays with bad endings. You wonder why on earth this storyteller decided you were the person who needed to hear it. I’ve learned that if an anecdote opens with, “Have I got a raccoon story for you…
Pigeon Pilates
Or so I call it . . . also fondly known as Pigeon Tai Chi . . . or simply, the Pigeon Stretch. It’s that endearing things birds do — wild and domestic both — leg extended under outstretched wing, releasing tension from their hard-working limbs. I always appreciate a wild-bird stretch when I’m out…
Songbird the Impaler
Imagine you’re a songbird . . . but nature has mandated you dine like a raptor. What are you to do with those gentle little feet that should be talons? You develop a workaround. That’s what this little bird has done. I saw him in my periphery and noted the bright white breast and the…
Videos: Changing Our Cultural Views of Pigeons
This video is about people who’ve cared enough for pigeons to effect positive, cultural change on their behalf. There are humane ways for humans to cohabit with urban pigeons.
Lessons of the Totem Animals
Years ago, I found a book on animal totems — after pulling an all-nighter with a Navajo friend who clued us in to the shamanistic roots of animal guides and animal medicine. In this Native American spiritual tradition, we each have nine totem animals who walk with us on this life path. They appear when…
How to Untangle a Pigeon
When you’re helping out a pigeon, the reaction from people passing by tends to be polarized: “how sweet” or “disgusting.” Pigeons have such a lousy rap, some people are aghast that anyone would think to rescue one of these birds, let alone touch it.
Super Raven
I took this shot the day after Thanksgiving — just getting around to posting it. The 25-foot swells off Ocean Beach were camera worthy. But I found myself swiveling with lens toward the cliff’s edge, where ravens were striking these comical poses in the headwinds. I captured several such raven moments, but this was my…
No Room at the Inn: A Quail’s Tale
Japanese Quail are known for shooting upward like missiles, and they can even kill themselves by hitting their noggins on hard surfaces. A Japanese Quail can shoot up and out through a space in the bag that’s narrower than my arm . . .