When people are asked why they like their favourite animals, they usually describe the animal’s impressive abilities or appealing qualities. Very few, however, would name the pigeon as their favourite. In fact, many think of pigeons as pests rather than wildlife, and their disdain for these birds is widespread.
This disregard for feral pigeons is disheartening. Sit in any park, anywhere in the world, and you’ll see people shooing away pigeons. These birds, often dodging kicks in their search for crumbs, are treated with contempt. Yet, few stop to think why pigeons are there in the first place. The reality is that we brought pigeons into our cities, and now we despise them. But it hasn’t always been this way—our relationship with pigeons is long and rich, rooted in history.
Feral pigeons, common in urban areas, are descendants of wild rock doves. These birds were domesticated long ago, mostly for food and their incredible navigation abilities. They thrive in cities today, where they find tall buildings reminiscent of the cliffs they naturally call home, while consuming our waste to survive.
People admire homing pigeons, yet there’s little difference between these and feral pigeons. Whether a pigeon is a prized racing bird or one scavenging in a city square depends on whether it lives as a captive or fends for itself in the streets.
The homing abilities of pigeons are legendary. These birds can perform basic math tasks, comparable to monkeys, and even distinguish between real and made-up words. Their ability to find their way home from great distances is attributed to their sense of smell, recognition of landmarks, the Earth’s magnetic field, and infrasound—sound waves too low for humans to hear. Pigeons also learn from one another, sharing routes and experiences.
Another remarkable trait of pigeons is their close family bonds. Wild pigeons stay with a single partner for life and take exceptional care of their offspring. They produce crop milk, which they gently feed to their young. Thousands of pigeon races happen worldwide every year, with some racing pigeons selling for over a million pounds.
Even with all these great traits, city pigeons are often not well-liked. But not too long ago, people thought pigeons were beautiful. In the mid-1800s, folks began to admire them for how they looked, which led to the creation of new types like fantails, Jacobins, tumblers, and barbs. These unique birds were under the spotlight of Charles Darwin. A devoted pigeon enthusiast, Darwin used the diversity within pigeon breeds to depict his ideas about natural selection in The Origin of Species.
It’s as if we’ve seen feral pigeons so often that we’ve become blind to their beauty. Their rainbow-coloured throat feathers and plump bodies would be celebrated if they were rarer. But because they’re common, we take them for granted.
The sympathy people show for animals in distress is often absent when it comes to pigeons. Many have told me that pigeons’ battle scars only deepen their dislike for the birds, describing them as “messy.” This appearance often results from human carelessness. Pigeons lose toes and feet because human hair or litter entangles their legs, cutting off blood supply. In some cases, their feet get stuck in chewing gum, another consequence of our wastefulness.
Watch pigeons interact with one another, and you’ll notice the tender moments between pairs as they preen each other or bring nesting material as gifts. If you really don’t want them around during lunch, the best advice is to simply be a tidier eater.
Pigeons are often disliked for fouling cars or flocking to food scraps, but they’re part of a much larger family. There are over 300 species of wild pigeons worldwide, many of them strikingly beautiful. Interestingly, there’s no scientific difference between pigeons and doves. Both belong to the Columbidae family, and the terms ‘pigeon’ and ‘dove’ are used for larger and smaller species, respectively.
The common pigeon found in cities today is descended from the rock dove, domesticated long ago. As Rosemary Mosco, author of A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, points out, pigeons are “biological marvels.” They produce milk for their young, can take off vertically, and see colours and hear sounds that humans can’t perceive. Their navigational abilities, which allow them to travel hundreds of miles, remain something we don’t fully understand.
Pigeons have been an essential food source for early human societies. Studies show that wild pigeons were a key part of the diet for both Neanderthals and later human groups with evidence upto 67,000 years ago and as mentioned before for their importance as messengers during times of great importance like roman and mongol empires.
Although pigeons are found in nearly every urban setting today, their historical significance is often forgotten. These rock birds are not immune to extinction with the passenger pigeon, once believed to be the most populous bird species in the world, already brought to complete extinction in about a century as a result of prolonged hunting and habitat deforestation. The last known passenger pigeon, named Martha, passed away in 1914, serving as a poignant reminder to cherish the pigeons we still have before they meet the same fate.
Even though pigeons persist and thrive despite challenges often stemming from human negligence. The contributions throughout history have been notable and as we look upto the future, its a respectable role to recognise and value as a biological wonder before it’s too late.