Columba Livia

Believing that it is always best to study some special group, I have, after deliberation, taken up domestic pigeons.
Darwin (1809–1882)

I have noticed an increase in the numbers of pied, splash and almost pure white pigeons in Boston. White feral rock pigeons (genus Columba livia domestica) are rare occurrences in urban environments, and particularly in colder regions; the Cornell Lab of Ornithology suggests that having a different color makes a pigeon the “odd one out”: easier prey for its natural predators. Based on my childhood experience keeping a small pigeon loft with my older brother in Manila; the pigeons I have observed feature neither the phenotype of white homing pigeons nor the physiognomy of some variations of domesticated pigeons bred for white plumage.

This art project, explores a flock of white pigeons from Seville, Spain, that was reportedly a gift from the Philippines, for the 1929 World Exposition. Looking at it from various angles: from landscape of spectacle, to economy of tourism, and to ghost of colonialism. Digital photos taken at, top: Cambridge, MA; bottom: Seville, Spain