Pigeons Part 2

Birding with Buckley and Sullivan is a podcast that explores pigeon anatomy and the respiration process. The hosts, along with special guest Cory Gresham, discuss how birds have the most efficient respiratory system, using both lungs and air sacs for gas exchange. They also talk about different pigeon breeds, such as the English Powder and the Archangel, and share some interesting facts about pigeon mating and nesting habits. The podcast ends with a bird joke and a quiz. Welcome to Birding with Buckley and Saladin and also we have a special guest with us today whose name is Cory Gresham. He's my dad. He's my father as I previously mentioned. He is a veterinarian. He's going to help us talk about pigeon anatomy, more so on that, and more so the respiration process, which means how they breathe. Okay, so the respiration process is very interesting. We got this wrong on the last episode. When I said that they don't have lungs, that, they do have lungs. The lungs are just something that the air travels through rather than something that actually assists a lot in the breathing process. Sorry, I got that wrong. My dad here would like to explain it. Yeah, so I'm just going to clarify a couple of things. So, birds, and you learned this Buckley, that birds have the most efficient respiratory system. They have the most efficient respiratory system. They actually manage to breathe in and out of the things that pump. Yeah, so they get gas transfer when they inhale and when they exhale. So what they do is they have lungs and they have things called air sacs. The lungs are where the actual gas exchange takes place, where you get fresh oxygen into the blood and where you get carbon dioxide out of the blood and into your breath. This is similar with the role of mammals, right? Yeah, yeah, gas exchanges. Except that we don't have air sacs, and that's why we're not as efficient. And technically, we don't really need that because we don't have to fly. We don't have to frequently use those motor skills. What happens is when a bird breathes in, the air comes down their windpipe and it goes across their lungs. Some of it goes into their lungs and some of it goes into their air sacs down towards their back, towards their belly. And then that forces old stale air out of the lungs and into the air sacs on the front. And then when they breathe out, that air from the front air sacs goes out and the air from the back air sacs goes back across the lungs and into the back air sacs. So basically when they breathe in, that new air is pushing the old air out, right? Right. And so you get gas exchange when you breathe in and when you breathe out. So you get fresh air both times. Thank you. We definitely needed to clarify on that. So, yeah. Okay. So, you guys want to talk about mess. Let's talk more about the different breeds of pigeons, all right? Okay. Okay. So, another breed of pigeon is the, that we didn't talk about, the English Powder. The English Powder is originated in England. Probably, I don't really know about that. Oh, I'm sorry. Something I wanted to clarify before we talk more on this is that, so yeah, I was right. Cher and me did happen a little bit in World War II. I just wanted to make sure that we clarify on that too. I'm sorry, it's my first time making a podcast. I made some mistakes. We're learning. We're learning from this experience. Okay. So, oh, yeah, English Powder. So, English Powder, what's very interesting is, you probably should look up, you should definitely look up a picture of what English Powder looks like. It's very interesting. Instead of their feathers hanging down and covering their legs, their feathers go really high up and their entire legs are exposed. It's like they just pulled their pants all the way up to their thighs and you can like see their thighs. It's like a very interesting breed of pigeon. Yeah. So, especially in the book that I used to source this podcast, which is Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird by Rosemary Mosko. I definitely recommend that you check that out. I paraphrased everything, so I'm not really plagiarizing anything there. So, yeah. So, another one that I wanted to talk about was the Archangel. The Archangel has quite a beautiful, let's see, it has quite a beautiful, sort of an orange-ish thing that goes around its neck. So, yeah. So, yeah, that's something about the Archangel. Now, another one I wanted to talk about was, this is actually kind of the funniest one if you look out. Actually, I think I might like the English Powder better, but you should definitely check out the Jacobin. Now, the Jacobin has pretty much just a lion's mane that covers its face. You cannot see its face at all. It's kind of crazy. They can't see. It's hard for them to see their babies. It's actually kind of funny to watch. It's like they're blind. So, yeah. We talked a bit more on... You know what they look like? Yeah. They look like an old-timey rich lady in a fur coat. Looks like a really big... Yeah, you know, like the collar? Yeah, she looks like she's going to a party at night in New York City. It does look... They do look crazy. Yeah. Maybe a little cow. Maybe a little pigeon. So, yeah. Pigeon. Pigeons leave. We also wanted to talk about... Pigeons leave. Let's see. What else is on our agenda? Her son looks like she's on her second marriage. Okay. We want to talk about some more... Well, the more pigeon facts, of course. Some things that I left uncovered is the... Well, I was wanting to talk about the mating process. The mating process is one of the most complex processes of mating in birds. Something I found very... Well, just the... When pigeons mate, they... After they've mated, when the male gets off of the female, you know, after they've done their thing, done their business, other males will try to swarm the female and then mate with her as well. So, yeah. He has to protect her after he's done that. Also... Do pigeons build nests? Pigeons build very, very sloppy nests. It's not really... Well, some of the reasons people don't like them. Don't like... Well, pointed in our skyrats. Also, something I wanted to point out. You might go to the city and you see pigeons that are, like, eating bread. But, actually, they eat seeds instead of bread. They eat seeds. They eat seeds, but they... Because the humans fed them the bread. Right, exactly. And the bread contains seeds and grains. Well, pretty much it's... Yeah, it's grains. So, that's why they eat that kind of bread. You ever seen, like, those bagels or maybe the buns that have, like, the sesame seeds on them? The seeds on them? Yeah, that's... Yeah, I've seen a pigeon eating one of those. Right. They just... They pretty much just eat the seeds off. Yeah, your listeners should go Google pigeon nests. It's really funny. It's funny and definitely... Yeah, I recommend looking up Archangel. Maybe even, like we talked about in previous episodes, the Arabian trumpeter call. It's very interesting. Yeah. We might be able to play that for you. Can you pull that up? Yeah, so... Yeah, my dad's pulling that up for us to listen to that. Yeah, the Arabian trumpeter is just a beautiful, beautiful kiddo. Oh, hold up. I forgot something. This is something new that we're starting. We're doing a bird joke of the week. So, for Pigeon Part 2, our bird joke is... It's about pigeons, of course. Why was the pigeon so popular at school? Because he stayed cool. That was funny, right? Yeah, I'm funny. Okay, I'm probably still going to have to workshop on that one. So, we want to talk about... Yeah, I think that's pretty much what we're coming to a close here. We're going to get ready for quiz time. So, with our new quiz time... Let's say our new quiz time... Our new quiz time of routine, we're going to use... I need it. Our new quiz time routine, I'm doing different thinking music. It's probably going to help you think better. I'm shortening the thinking time and trying to run it quicker. Yeah, it's going to be a lot better. Okay, so, question number one. Which... No, sorry. Question number one. What is the role of the lungs in a bird's respiratory process? Okay, well, right here I have some music to help you think. It should actually help this time. What does this do? We're going to play a little bird noise and the music's up, okay? Look, the creature's orange. Okay, so, time's up. And the answer is, the lung's role in the bird's respiratory process is... Is... The role is to... It's where the gas exchange takes place, which is a similar role as the lungs have in mammal respiratory systems. Okay, so, moving on. Question number two. What does a pigeon eat? Ready? So, I'm going to give you a little signal and we're going to play the bird noise, okay? So, ready? Stop playing our thinker music. Not yet. No. Okay, and the answer is... The answer is... Oh, yeah, pigeons eat... Pigeons eat... They eat seed and grain. They eat seed and grain. So, like, you know, the buns, that's pretty much what they eat. Okay, question number three. Stop it. What is a pigeon... What is a pigeon... What behavior of a pigeon is one of the most elaborate and complex social behaviors ever seen in a bird? Which process is that? All right, we're going to start playing the instrument. What do you guys think? Okay, and the answer is... Their mating process is very, very complex. Okay, that's it. See you next time with Birdie, with Buckley... And Sullivan. That's it. Pressure's out.