Rosemary Mosco > Quotes

“When a pigeon pair picks a nesting spot, the female sits there and urges the male to bring her sticks, straw, feathers, and other material that she arranges around herself in a loose disk. The resulting construction is best described by words such as 'flimsy,' 'haphazard,' and 'bad.' Some pairs don't even build a nest; they just lay eggs on their chosen ledge and sit on them.”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“Christmas Field Guide: Holly: Varied plants of the genus Ilex. Typically only female holly plants bear red fruit, and only if a male is within an unchaste 25 foot radius.”
― Rosemary Mosco, Birding Is My Favorite Video Game: Cartoons about the Natural World From "Bird and Moon"

“Some youngsters settle down close to their hatching site, and others travel farther, but nobody knows exactly how far they go on average. Once they get there, though, they waste no time in making new pigeons. The age of sexual maturity is pretty variable, but birds can start to pair up when they're only six to eight months old. All too soon, the newly adult pigeons are dancing, strutting, and building their terrible nests . . .”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“Red-Tailed Hawk: North Americans are lucky that this huge, gorgeous hawk with a brick-red tail is a common species. In rural settings, it's often seen hunting from perches like fence posts and telephone poles. But across the continent, it has become habituated to city life. This has earned it many admirers; for instance, there are multiple books about a beloved New York City redtail named Pale Male who once nested near Central Park. On the other hand, people get alarmed when a red-tailed hawk plunks a dead pigeon onto the hood of their car and starts to chow down. There's no satisfying some folks.”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“The floor of the nesting area has to be flat so it'll support the haphazard pile of sticks that they call a nest.”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“The process of pushing out the egg is incredibly fast. Blink and you'll miss it. If you're a human parent, this relatively easy process might make you jealous. (Get ready to become even more jealous: A female pigeon is ready to lay her eggs just eight to twelve days after mating.)”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“Pigeons take incubation seriously--maybe too seriously. Sometimes house sparrows pull feathers from the butts of nesting pigeons to line their nests. The pigeons weather this injustice stoically and just keep on incubating their eggs.”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird

“Try this: Think about what the words 'pigeon' and 'dove' mean to you. Many people think of pigeons as dirty and doves as peaceful, elegant, and even holy. But you've been fooled by Big Dove. Technically speaking, pigeons and doves are the same thing.”
― Rosemary Mosco, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird