"The Two Pigeons," a French ballet from 1886, isn't really about pigeons at all, but about two human lovers.
In the ballet, the couple watches a pair of courting pigeons. Pigeon courtship is quite elaborate.
The male bows, puffs out his neck, fans his tail, circles the female and the two birds coo to one another. And it seems to work, because pigeons usually form lifelong pair bonds.
In the ballet, however, the human male strays, suffers a number of misfortunes and finally returns to his love, where he's forgiven.
Choosing pigeons as a metaphor for loyalty is scientifically sound. Their faithfulness has been well documented. Very occasionally, after repeated nest failures, a pair may split up. DNA studies have also shown that an extra-pair mating sometimes occurs — but that's the exception, certainly not the rule.
Mated pigeons are also unusual among birds because both parents incubate the eggs and feed their young.
Even more remarkable, pigeons — and their American cousins, the mourning doves — don't feed their newly hatched chicks insects.
Instead, just before the eggs hatch, both mother and father begin producing a rich, creamy food called crop milk in the lining of a pouch in the throat.
Both parents regurgitate this nutritious food directly into the mouths of their hatchlings. As the nestlings grow, seeds are gradually added to the mixture.
So, for almost every pigeon pair, it's a partnership that lasts until death does them part.
And in the ballet, the two human lovers are reunited, forgiveness prevails, and, presumably, like two pigeons, they mate for life.
