The abandonment of pigeons
Some thoughts about a VERY common animal, that is synoynmous with cities, yet often misread.
Some context…
In preparation of my next photo trip, which will be urban-themed, I wanted to share some thoughts (and some photos, all mine, of course) about pigeons, a creature we see everywhere, in any kind of urban sprawl.
Two things to clarify before I get into it:
When I say pigeon, I am talking about the domesticated (although often feral) form of the Rock Dove (Columba livia). These thoughts don’t really apply to the still very common Wood Pigeon or Stock Dove;
I’m not the biggest pigeon fan myself! They are dirty, and they can be a nuisance; but I’m here to explore more about why that is, instead of just blaming them for existing.
Pigeons are so dumb, right?
When you see them waddling about, without any apparent attention to their sorroundings, so close to people, they often times almost end up getting stepped on, pigeons don’t strike as particularly adapted for surviving in the wild, or even self-aware.
That’s because they’re NOT wild animals. As I mentioned previously, they’re the domestic form of the Rock Dove, just as, for example, the pig is the domestic descendant of the Wild Boar, or the cow, of the extinct Auroch. The wild, untouched Rock Dove might not even exist anymore, perhaps except in the isolated cliffs of Scotland and Ireland.
Because they’ve been domesticated for so long, they’re tame, have very few survival instincts and have lost a great deal of their natural alertness. The pigeons flying around in cities are therefore, not wild, but feral - domestic animals that, without human contact, have adopted a lifestyle closer to their wild counterparts. But thousands of years of selective breeding by humans cannot be undone so easily. Feral animals will never be as alert or independent as wild ones, even when living in the same conditions. Their bond to humans is too great to be severed - they were bred to be docile, for thousands of generations. You could take a wolf puppy, raise it from birth, and chances are it will still be less adapted to life in a human household that a 7 year old dog you found on the street and later adopted.
For pigeons, that backfired. They no longer have owners (generally), they are forced to live by themselves, yet they are highly (not entirely) dependant on us. They eat our leftovers, they roost on our windowsills and rooftops, they shit on our cars. We treat them as if they were wild animals, that for some reason chose to multiply in huge numbers, and make our cities dirty all by themselves, the winged rats that they are. But they don’t have a choice because we left them no choice. Crows, gulls, sparrows and a multitude of other animals & birds are all well-suited for city life, but that’s because they evolved alongside us, not forced by us. But if you deleted all the cities right this instant, they’d be much quicker to adapt to a humanless world than even the most independent pigeon!
*When I say useless, I refer to their dulled down natural instincts and the general perception of people, they are still incredibly powerful fliers, and have a great sense of geographical awareness. They are not pointless - more on that in the next part.
Why were they domesticated in the first place?
For many reasons - people raced them, ate them, used them to deliver messages, kept and cherished them as companions. They live everywhere because we brought them everywhere. But to summarize, their incredible homing instinct (their ability to return to their place of origin, even in some absolutely ridiculous conditions) was probably why they were so prized, especially in times of war, where communication was essential and other means were much slower.
Julius Caesar used them to communicate with conquered provinces in Gaul, the Persians used them to send information through their vast empire, and so on; they were essential even up to World War I - the US used around 600 pigeons in France alone. One of them, Cher Ami (Dear Friend, in french), received the french “Croix de Guerre“ in 1918 after completing 12 deliveries, the last one while having been shot in the chest and wing.
In a way, these birds risked their lives for our victories, as many were killed on their missions to cut off communication lines. For thousands of years, they were far from useless. Better said, they were essential… until they weren’t.
What now?
Once we established better means of communication, their usefulness waned. We threw them away and left them be, like we would a used phone that lags on Whatsapp. Now, they’re an invasive pest, ‘useless‘ and ‘dumb‘, that needs to be culled. Sadly, they are indeed invasive, and they do overpopulate in some places. But what is there to do? Kill them all because we don’t want to play with them anymore? Take responsibility for our actions and show a little more compassion? Leave them be? I don’t know. Definitely not the former though, lol.
What are your thoughts on pigeons? Let me know, if you so desire. Soon, I’m planning an urban trip, right in my city, to see how even the most commonplace locations can yield nice photos.
See you next time!
Thank you for this. I learned this about these poor pigeons just the other day, so enjoyed your input. I actually feel sorry for these birds. They did wonderful things for man and now have been abandoned - cast off as a nuisance.
Not a fan and yet you made me really think. Feral not wild. Also sometimes they’re beautiful.