August 13, 2009

Jennifer Chong, 33, had an aviary built in her bedroom to accommodate the many birds, often pigeons, she takes in from off the street. (ZT Pet News Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Chong)

Wild Pigeons Live in NYC Woman's Bedroom: Scorned by most New Yorkers, pigeons thank their lucky feathers for Jennifer Chong who helps the birds on her way to work -- some she takes home for extra TLC. A couple starving pigeons, pecking at nothing on the ground, started it all.

NEW YORK -- Jennifer Chong’s Flushing, Queens apartment has only one bedroom, but that doesn’t stop her from making room for a few aviary friends -– all 48 of them, including 31 white ring neck doves and 17 pigeons.

Chong, 33, is a licensed New York State wildlife rehabilitator, and says she feels particularly compelled to help pigeons, which wary New Yorkers often scorn, but are actually harmless, friendly companion animals, she maintains.

Chong is constantly armed with birdseed, and personally tends to several flocks in Flushing and Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, where she works at Columbia University.

“It started around four years ago, when I just sort of noticed all of these pigeons standing on the street, just pecking at nothing,” Chong explained to Zootoo Pet News. “I noticed they were hungry and I started carrying two slices of bread everywhere, before I realized that it wasn’t a good thing for them to eat … from there, it just sort of evolved.”

She began to carry around a pair of scissors with her, conscious of the pigeons’ tendencies to get string wound around their feet. The material could sometimes cut off their blood circulation, resulting in a lost toe, or even foot.

Freeing the birds, Chong said, was “extremely gratifying,” noting “it might take five minutes out of their lives but could really make a big difference for them, in the long run.”

Chong’s connection to the pigeons didn’t remain a street-side affair for very long.

She soon opened her home to them, even building an aviary in her bedroom. She isn’t affiliated with any nonprofit or city animal welfare organization, but people periodically locate her and ask for help in various rescue missions, she says, even though her contact information is not publicly listed.

There are only a “handful” of independent wildlife rehabilitators in New York City, and even fewer who devote themselves almost entirely to pigeons, Chong estimates.

She most recently participated in the rescue of more than 50 white ring neck doves in Queens, as Zootoo Pet News previously reported. Nearly half of those doves are still with Chong, who is comfortable with the notion that it might take some time before appropriate adoptive families materialize.

More often than not, though, it’s the pigeons themselves that reach out to Chong, who regularly finds injured or sick ones on the street. Tangled string is an ongoing issue for them, she says, but some birds are also afflicted by bacterial and fungal infections.

She pays for all of the birds’ medical needs out of her own pocket, explaining that “while money is of course an issue and is always a concern, at this point I feel like I need to do what I need to do for them. As long as I have the money, I feel comfortable spending it on them.”

The native New Yorker is equally generous with her time -– after she works a full day at Columbia University’s Butler Library, where she serves as an Information Technology consultant, Chong travels one hour home, where she will spend a daily three-to-four hours cleaning their cages and her apartment, while also tending to their dietary and medical needs.

They get along well with her six cats, she maintains, and tend to enjoy flying free in the apartment during supervised hours. Some birds, like Bonnie, a pigeon whose physical disability has left her unable to properly close her beak, or peck at food, have found a forever home with Chong. She describes Bonnie as particularly affectionate, but conceded that some of the other birds are “a bit more stand-offish.”

When the birds recover from their illnesses, Chong releases them back into the wild, where she initially found them. If they prove unequipped for the wild, they can stay with Chong, for however long.

Chong’s dedication is rooted in a personal connection she feels to the often cast-aside birds, which she says have gained an unwarranted reputation in New York City as being dirty.

“They have become so unfairly maligned, and people are biased against them because of basic pest control propaganda, and I think it is a shame because they are really nice birds,” Chong said. “They are just like any bird and I don’t think it is fair to treat them like they are diseased when they are not. In some way, I just feel protective of them because of the reputation they have developed, which is unfair.”

Pigeons were initially brought over to the United States from Europe, designated as food for larger animals. Chong says that since the pigeons are here because of humans -– “it’s not like they asked to come here,” -– people should take responsibility for those previous actions, and help to support, rather than shun, the now-urban birds.

“They aren’t native here,” Chong said. “I just feel like it is a good thing to help look after them. It can be so hard for pigeons in New York City, especially in the winter.”

Amy Lieberman is a correspondent for ZT Pet News covering the New York region and can be reached at alieberman@zootoo.com.