A famous New York landmark was overrun with pigeons this week.
The Big Apple is known for a lot of great things – the Empire State Building, world-class entertainment and famous faces. But one crucial piece of New York is often overlooked: the humble pigeon.
The bird has gotten a lot more attention in recent months, thanks to a new statue installed at New York’s High Line.
The sculpture, a 17-foot-tall pigeon dubbed ‘Dinosaur’ by Ivan Argote, has brought pigeon lovers around the world to 30th Street and 10th Avenue.
Cashing in on this pigeon-mania, the High Line decided to hold a pigeon pageant on National Pigeon Appreciation Day.
Dozens of New Yorkers showed up in full costume, feathers and all, to compete for the crown prize.
13-year-old Athena told the New York Times pigeons were beautiful and fun to learn about: ‘What’s not to love?’
A small pigeon in a red bow tie, along with dozens of participants and eager onlookers, took part in Pigeon Fest last Saturday.
Contestants were judged by ornithologists on their impressions of pigeons – some even threw bread and attempted to peck at it.
Categories included ‘plumage’, ‘strut’ and ‘coo’. One contestant, dubbed ‘Carrie Beakshaw’ (a play on Sex And The City’s Carrie Bradshaw) performed a monologue.
But the crown was given to Miriam Abrahams, a volunteer at the Wild Bird Fund, which has thousands of pigeons they take care of.
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Her costume was incredibly lifelike, and she said she took a month to make it, even laying an egg during her performance.
The bizarre festival is said to be a one-off, as the statue which brought everyone together will only be on display until next spring.
But artist Argote said: ‘The pigeon is an icon, somehow, of the margins, so it attracts a lot of people who are either involved with pigeons literally or feel represented by its complexity.
‘It goes way beyond the work. As a sculptor and as an artist, you try to create something, but as soon as it gets into the community, it becomes more meaningful.’
The love for pigeons isn’t contained to just New York – in Cardiff, a dad who saved a pigeon from drowning welcomed the bird into his family and takes him for walks on a leash.
Philip Weston-Thomas was on a walk around Roath Park Lake in Cardiff with his wife Rebecca and 14-year-old daughter one January when his daughter spotted the bird struggling in the freezing water.
Philip jumped into action and scooped up the pigeon, which was freezing, shaking and ‘on its last legs’.
The family took the bird, whom they named Bobbi, home with them and nursed him back to health.
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