Rock Dove (Pigeon)

Went into the city and brought the camera specifically to get pictures of rock doves. I'm glad I did! They are perfectly content to get up close and there's so many that I had my pick of subjects! Here we have two with very different feather patterns, both of whom were picking through a local park.

The stability of a bird's head really shows in the first picture, where the head and eye are so sharp but the rest of the body (and especially its foot) still has motion blur!

I’ve added two new pictures!

The fourth is the first bird picture I took in Japan! I was in Ueno Park, had just spotted a new starling to photograph and this pigeon… just walked right up and said hello! Honestly, I expect it’s used to being fed by people. I did not feed it of course, but I appreciated the warm greeting! Now the pigeon is immortalized here in my bird blog!

The last one was near the Imperial Palace grounds! With the grass and harsh lighting (as well as the location) it just feels so… dramatic? I don’t know, I just like it!

I feel like pigeons have a really bad reputation, but they’re lovely creatures. If you don’t like pigeons I encourage you to read up on their tragic backstory.
Wikipedia
Audubon