Blanco

Blanco is an unusual little white pigeon (definitely not a king) with pearl white eyes. He was rescued by a family in San Mateo in early May. Here's what they say about him:


Blanco really found us. We are in a suburban neighborhood and were talking in the driveway of a friend's house when he walked up. He was obviously tame, and seemed to be looking for us to help him. He walked right into the garage and seemed curious about everything he saw. He let us pick him up and handle him without any squirming. We vacated one of our cockatiels' cages and put him in it with birdseed, cut veggies and water and he ate and drank eagerly. He's a little more cautious of being picked up now, and will fly off when you get close, but not very far. When we hold him, he is content to be petted and when he roams free he prefers to stay close to where the human action is. He watches everything the household does and loves to explore, but doesn't fly much. He also doesn't seem interested in baths, but is still snowy white.




I picked him up on May 7 and at first he stayed in my downstairs room with a bunch of other new birds picked up from shelters.

Now he's out in the loft and, the funny thing is, the minute he got out there, he pounced on Bean (in a fairly friendly way) and has been crazy in love with Bean ever since.

Blanco had been staying with five other single birds so why he was so cool with them and so hot-to-trot with Bean is a mystery. And I think they're both male. Bean has always acted like a male with lots of strutting and lobster-tailing and nobody's ever courted him as if he were a hen. And Blanco is very macho and always chasing Bean back to their nest now, as if he were a cock and Bean was a hen. Whatever! I'm just thrilled that my Beanie Baby's got a bird friend. He's been alone amongst all the other birds his whole life. I'm not sure why but he's undersized and frail and I figure it's about that. But Blanco thinks Bean is hot!

6/9 Update:
So I still can't get over how Blanco basically ignored all the single pigeons (hens and cocks) while in the downstairs room and then fell instantly in love with Bean the minute he saw him in the loft. And they are very much a couple. They've chosen a nest box and made a nest but, since they're both boys, can't lay eggs. Blanco was always following Bean around and nagging him and I was worried about Beanie.



I had the idea that if I could get them sitting on fake eggs, that would solve the problem because then, while Blanco was taking his turn on the eggs, Bean would be free to just relax and chill and visa versa.



I put a fake egg in their nest and, to my disappointment, they igored it. And then, after a couple of days went by, Bean started sitting on it (maybe he figured out my plan). Then, when Bean gets off, Blanco takes his turn and it is working out beautifully. They're both happy and still have their relationship but they're not driving each other crazy all day every day. It makes me smile just to think about it.