Why pigeons deserve a better reputation

In the heart of London, amidst the hustle of Trafalgar Square, a small yet significant event unfolds daily. Here, among historical monuments and the footfall of countless tourists, pigeons swoop, flutter, and gather, embodying a seamless blend of nature within the urban landscape. Often dismissed, these avian inhabitants carry with them stories of resilience, intelligence, and a longstanding companionship with humanity that dates back thousands of years. The interaction between pigeons and humans is rich with recognition, affection, and mutual understanding. These birds, often dismissed as simple city dwellers, are capable of complex social behaviours and emotional expressions. And, contrary to the stereotype of being dirty and disease-ridden, pigeons are actually very clean animals and pose little threat in terms of spreading disease to humans.

The Ancient Bond Between Humans and Pigeons

Our relationship with pigeons is ancient and multifaceted. Originating from the rock dove, pigeons were domesticated as early as 10,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, primarily for their meat. But their role in human society swiftly expanded beyond the culinary. Due to their remarkable homing instincts, pigeons became messengers, delivering crucial communications across vast distances, even altering the course of battles and saving lives during both World Wars. Their contribution was so valuable that many were awarded medals for bravery.

Pigeons' ability to recognise and show affection towards humans is a testament to their intelligence and social nature, aspects that are often overlooked. These remarkable birds, which have coexisted with humans for thousands of years, possess cognitive capabilities that enable them to identify individual people and form bonds with them.

Recognition and Memory

Pigeons have demonstrated remarkable memory and recognition skills in various studies. They can differentiate between human faces, a trait that is relatively rare in the animal kingdom. This ability is not just about identifying a person but understanding the significance of that person in the pigeon’s life, whether they are a source of food, a threat, or a companion. Pigeons use visual cues to remember individuals and can do so even after a significant period.

Affection and Trust

Pigeons can display what appears to be affection towards humans with whom they’ve formed a bond. This behaviour is often observed in pigeons that are kept as pets or those that frequently interact with certain individuals in urban settings. Pigeons may approach their favoured humans, sit on their shoulders or hands, and even engage in gentle pecking, which can be seen as a form of pigeon ‘kisses’. These actions suggest a level of trust and comfort with specific people.

Understanding Human Actions

Pigeons are adept at interpreting human behaviour and can distinguish between friendly and threatening actions. In experiments, pigeons learned to recognise individuals who fed them as opposed to those who chased them away. Remarkably, they could still identify these individuals even when they changed their clothes, indicating that their recognition ability goes beyond mere appearance.

The emotional intelligence of pigeons is a key factor in their interactions with humans. They possess the ability to sense kindness and respond to it, which is why people who feed pigeons often find themselves surrounded by these birds during their visits to parks or public squares. This mutual understanding between pigeons and humans underscores the depth of their social cognition.

The relationship between pigeons and humans can be mutually beneficial. Humans provide pigeons with food and sometimes shelter, while pigeons offer companionship and the pleasure of interacting with wildlife. For many people, especially in urban environments where contact with nature is limited, pigeons can become cherished companions, offering a connection to the natural world right at their doorstep.

Pigeons: A Testament to Urban Adaptation

Pigeons thrive in cities due to their remarkable adaptability. Tall buildings mimic their natural cliffside habitats, providing ample nesting sites. Their diet, versatile and omnivorous, allows them to consume anything from grains to discarded food, making urban waste a plentiful resource. This adaptability, combined with a prolific breeding rate, has enabled the pigeon population to flourish in cities around the globe. Pigeons contribute to urban ecosystems by cleaning up waste – they eat scraps of food that would otherwise contribute to urban decay and attract less desirable animals like rats.

Underestimating Pigeon Intelligence

Beyond their survival skills, pigeons exhibit surprising levels of intelligence. They have passed the 'mirror test’—an assessment of self-recognition that few species can achieve. Pigeons can also recognise all letters of the human alphabet, distinguish between photographs, and even differentiate between individual humans within these images. Their cognitive abilities extend to remarkable feats of memory and pattern recognition, allowing some trained pigeons to accurately identify cancerous tissue in medical images, outperforming algorithms in accuracy.

The Pigeon’s Undeserved Reputation

Despite their contributions and fascinating characteristics, pigeons often suffer from a poor public image, dismissed as mere pests. Yet, this perception overlooks their complex social structures, strong parental instincts, and their role as one of the few touch points with wildlife in urban settings. Cities would indeed feel emptier without the presence of these adaptable, intelligent birds that have shared our spaces for millennia.

But, aren’t pigeons dirty disease carriers?

The perception that pigeons are carriers of disease and parasites, thereby posing a significant health risk to humans, is overstated and not entirely accurate. This misconception often stems from a lack of understanding of pigeon behaviour, their ecological role, and the actual risk they pose to public health. Let’s clarify why the fear of disease from pigeons is generally exaggerated.

Firstly, pigeons, like any wild animal, can carry diseases and parasites. However, the transmission of these diseases to humans is relatively rare. Pigeons may carry pathogens such as Chlamydia psittaci, which causes psittacosis, and Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus that can lead to cryptococcosis. Nonetheless, the actual cases of transmission to humans are uncommon and usually involve individuals with compromised immune systems or those who have intense, direct contact with pigeons.

Research and studies have shown that, despite the social perception of pigeons as dirty and disease-ridden, they are, in fact, very clean animals. There is very little evidence to suggest that they are significant transmitters of disease to humans . It’s essential to put the risk into perspective; domestic animals like dogs and cats, which we commonly keep as pets, also carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans, yet the perception of risk from these animals is much lower.

Moreover, pigeons have lived in close proximity to humans for thousands of years, initially domesticated and introduced into urban environments by us. If pigeons were a significant health hazard, it would likely be a well-documented public health issue by now, given our long history of coexistence .

In Defence of Pigeons: Embracing Our Feathered Companions

As urban dwellers in London and cities worldwide rush about their daily lives, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the pigeons that navigate the skies and streets alongside us. These birds are not only survivors but symbols of nature’s resilience and adaptability. They remind us of the deep, intertwined history we share and challenge us to reconsider our perceptions of urban wildlife. The next time you encounter a pigeon, consider it not a nuisance, but a living testament to the marvels of evolution and an ancient companion to humankind.