Hello, Pigeon!

The facts behind the pictures

City pigeons descend from the wild rock dove, which nests on sea cliffs and rocky ledges. Window ledges, bridges and roofs stand in for those cliffs.

Filmed walking pigeons show a hold phase, when the head stays almost fixed in space as the body moves on, then a quick thrust forward. Holding still keeps the view steady.

Pigeons and doves suck water up with the beak down, like a straw; most birds scoop water and tip the head back to swallow.

Pigeon neck feathers are iridescent: green and purple patches shift colour as the viewing angle changes.

A pigeon usually lays two eggs, sometimes one, and both parents take turns sitting on them.

Both male and female pigeons make “crop milk” in the crop, a pouch in the throat, to feed their chicks. It is not the same as mammal milk.

Young pigeons stay hidden in the nest until they are almost fully grown and look much like adults, so “you never see baby pigeons” is a myth.

Homing pigeons are domestic pigeons trained to return to their home loft. They can find their way back from far away, even from places they have never been.

Armies used homing pigeons to carry short notes in a tiny tube on the leg. The famous story of Cher Ami, a U.S. Army pigeon in World War I, says it helped save trapped soldiers.

People have kept pigeons for thousands of years and bred hundreds of breeds, from fantails to pouters, all from the wild rock dove.

When startled, some pigeons slap their wings together above the body as they take off. Not every pigeon claps every time.

In the study, park pigeons learned to avoid a person who chased them and kept avoiding that person after the two feeders swapped coats.

Pigeons mostly eat seeds and grains found on the ground. Bread fills birds up but gives little goodness, so it is a poor food for pigeons.