Finally, Pigeons!

Our urban exploration continues, this time with the sounds of New York City. And for this one, I have to warmly thank Peter Moskos, Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

I first got to know Peter when he kindly sent me a copy of his book Back from the Brink, about New York City's extraordinary crime drop in the 1990s. Inside was a friendly dedication to this website, because the book had been written to the backdrop sounds of our Japanese Garden! But the story didn't stop there.

It turns out Peter is also a pigeon person, and welcomes them to his little rooftop garden in Queens. While working on a pigeon photography exhibition, for which he wanted to create a proper sonic backdrop, Peter contacted me again, asking for advice on how to record his feathered visitors.

We exchanged a few emails, I built and sent him some custom microphones, and he took it from there. He spent a remarkable amount of time experimenting: finding the right microphone positions, finding the quietest hours of the day... and night, to capture not only the pigeons, but the little piece of Queens they inhabit. And then, he kindly shared all those recordings with me.

And this is the result. Pigeons cooing and fluttering on a rooftop, surrounded by the distant hum of New York City.

I am particularly happy to finally welcome these sounds to myNoise. After all these years, a website created by someone named Pigeon was still completely missing the sound of pigeons. Thanks to Peter, this rather embarrassing omission has now been corrected!

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