Siblings mutual aid
These two appear here because they are the progeny of the rather splendid parent seen recently on the Picture Posting pages and I wanted to celebrate their success in fledging. At this stage they are rather unsplendid, their feathers still developing and their large beaks very prominent. As the face and chin feathers grow the beaks appear to retreat to the modest ones seen in the adults. At first hatching, the beaks are grotesquely large. Such weapons in this cooing united couple do indeed seem out of place, but act as a reminder of how difficult it is to find the balance between aggression and assistance. On the one hand protecting the individual, and on the other living social lives. In his ground breaking writing Kropotkin gave us the term mutual aid and documented its significance for ecology, and thereby reminded us that, while aggression may sometimes be necessary, being social animals, pigeons and humans are required to downsize our beaks.
mutual aid - There is a page on Mutual Aid in the Mosaic section - 221. Kropotkin is now more famous for his political beliefs which very sensibly extend his ideas in ecology to human society, resulting in his being rejected by both socialist and capitalist critics - now there is a recommendation!
These two were photographed in my garden, one of their parents is shown on the Picture Posting page entitled: Dumfriesshire - Kenneth Bank.
Taken on a Sony DSC-RX10M3 on 4/9/2026 at 10.30am. 1/250th at f/4.0 ISO rated at 3200. Focal length: 320mm (35 mm equiv).
Saturday 10th October 2026
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