Coo the music, pigeons set city's tone

Feathers fly

Keeping pigeons in a densely populated city can sometimes lead to disputes.

In a case recently heard by the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, a 19th-floor resident kept more than 60 pigeons at home. After a second-floor residence suffered a severe toilet blockage and sewage overflow, workers clearing the pipes found large amounts of pigeon feed, feathers and droppings.

The court found sufficient evidence to link the blockage to waste from the pigeons and ordered their owner to pay the downstairs resident 3,000 yuan ($447) in compensation.

Most disagreements do not end up in court, but proper sanitation and relations with neighbors are issues pigeon keepers have to deal with.

Ma said pigeon associations sometimes step in when disputes arise. If loft hygiene is inadequate, the keeper may be asked to make improvements, while more serious problems can affect membership.

Chen understands why some residents may object to pigeons being kept nearby.

"If pigeons fly around and leave droppings on someone's windowsill or balcony, of course people aren't going to like it," he said. "You have to take relations with your neighbors into account."

The spaces available for keeping pigeons have also shrunk.

Li remembers many households near his childhood home in Xicheng, then an area dominated by single-story houses, raising pigeons.

"Back then, there must have been dozens of households keeping pigeons," he said. "Now, they're almost all gone."

Children were also exposed to pigeons from an early age.

Chen said younger people who keep pigeons are rare today.

"Most are older," he said. "If you haven't grown up in that kind of atmosphere, you might never discover what's enjoyable about it."

Growing up around pigeons does not necessarily mean the interest will pass to the next generation. Ma's younger relatives have helped feed the birds and clean the loft, but few share his childhood fascination.

"They don't like pigeons that much — not the way I did when I was little," Ma said.

Asked whether he planned to continue raising pigeons, Chen's answer was simple. "I'll keep doing it," he said. "As long as conditions allow."

zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn