Chapter 1
A Head That Holds Still
You have seen a pigeon a hundred times. It struts down the sidewalk, bobbing its head. But that bob is a trick of the eye. Let's take a closer look at this ordinary bird.
Not Really Bobbing
A walking pigeon's head is not really bobbing. As the pigeon steps, its head holds still in the air while its body walks forward underneath. Then the head zips ahead to a new spot and holds still again. Think of a camera held steady. The world the pigeon sees stays clear.
The Treadmill Test
How did scientists figure this out? They filmed pigeons walking and slowed the film down. Then one scientist put pigeons on a treadmill. On the moving belt, the world around the birds stayed still. In the study, the pigeons stopped bobbing! So the bob helps the pigeon see, not balance.
Eyes on the Sides
A pigeon's eyes sit on the sides of its head. That gives it a very wide view, even of a lot of the space behind it. The two eyes only share a narrow strip in front of the beak. So the bird trades sharp distance judging for a giant view.
Drinking Like a Straw
Most birds scoop up water, then tip their heads back so it runs down the throat. A pigeon drinks a different way. The pigeon pushes its beak into the water and sips it up, like using a straw. Strong throat muscles do the pulling. The head never lifts until the drink is done.
A Shimmering Neck
Look at a pigeon's neck in the sun. The feathers flash green and purple. Tilt your head, and green can slide toward purple. Scientists found the color is not paint in the feather. It comes from light bouncing in a very thin outer layer. Color made this way is called structural color.
Chapter 2
Milk From Mom and Dad
Birds do not make milk. Everyone knows that, right? Pigeons break the rule. And in a pigeon family, the father makes milk too.
Partners for Life
A male pigeon puffs up his chest and spreads his tail. He struts around a female in circles, bowing and cooing. If she likes him, the two become a pair. Pigeon pairs often stay together for life. A pair can form at any time of year.
Two Eggs, Two Parents
The nest is a simple platform of twigs and grass. A pigeon mother usually lays two eggs. Then the parents take turns sitting on them to keep them warm. The eggs hatch in about two and a half weeks.
Pigeon Milk
Pigeon parents make milk for their chicks! Both the mother and the father make it in a body part called the crop. Pigeon milk is not the same as the milk people drink. But the same kind of body signal, called a hormone, controls both.
Where Are the Babies?
Baby pigeons, called squabs, stay tucked in the nest until they are almost fully grown. Their nests are often hidden on rooftops, in towers and in empty buildings, like a secret bedroom. When the young pigeons finally come out, they look much like adults. So people almost never spot a pigeon that looks like a baby.
Chapter 3
From Sea Cliffs to City Ledges
Why do pigeons love tall buildings so much? To answer that, we have to leave the city. Picture waves crashing below a rocky cliff, where wild doves tuck into the cracks.
The Rock Dove
The city pigeon's wild ancestor is the rock dove. Rock doves nest in cracks and on sheltered ledges of sea cliffs and rocky gorges. To a pigeon, a window ledge or a bridge is a lot like a cliff. That is why city pigeons pick buildings, bridges and roofs.
Old Friends
People tamed rock doves thousands of years ago. They kept pigeons for their eggs, their meat and their feathers. They also bred pigeons for their skill at finding home. The oldest written records of tame pigeons are about five thousand years old.
Hundreds of Breeds
Pigeon keepers have made hundreds of breeds. Some have curly feathers, some have puffed chests and some are tiny. The famous scientist Charles Darwin kept every breed he could get. He argued that all of them came from the wild rock dove. Pigeons helped him explain how living things change.
Back to the Wild
So where did city pigeons come from? Some tame pigeons escaped or were set free. They lived on their own in towns and raised families. Birds like that are called feral. Their great-great-grandchildren are the pigeons on your street. People carried pigeons around the world, so feral pigeons now live in cities everywhere.
Chapter 4
The Way Home
Imagine being driven to a town you have never seen. Then someone says, "Now get home on your own." Homing pigeons do just that.
Feathered Letter Carriers
Homing pigeons can find their way home from far away, even from places they have never seen. So armies used pigeons like letter carriers, with a short note in a tiny tube on one leg. A famous story says one pigeon, Cher Ami, helped save trapped soldiers.
A Map in the Sky
How does a homing pigeon know the way? Far from home, it can use the sun like a compass. Scientists think the bird even allows for the sun moving across the sky all day. Closer to home, familiar sights take over. Tracking shows each bird learns its own favorite route.
Cher Ami's Story
In 1918, a group of soldiers was trapped in a forest in France. Their leader sent pigeon after pigeon for help. The last pigeon arrived hurt, still carrying the note that showed where the men were. Later, people told the story that this bird was Cher Ami. Records show Cher Ami really did carry important notes. But nobody can prove which pigeon carried that one.
Race to the Loft
Today, homing pigeons race for fun. Owners carry their birds to a starting place far away and let them go. Each pigeon flies home to its own loft. The distance is carefully measured, so the time of each flight tells how fast the bird was. The fastest pigeon wins.
Chapter 5
Living Alongside Pigeons
You share your city with pigeons every day. Do they notice you back? Scientists set up a clever test in a park to find out.
Pigeons Remember You
In the study, two people fed pigeons in a city park. One person stayed calm, and the other chased the birds away. The park pigeons learned to avoid the chaser. They kept avoiding that person later, even after the two people swapped coats. The birds knew the person, not the coat. So never chase a pigeon!
Clever Birds
Other tests show what trained pigeons can learn. In the study with photos, pigeons picked out familiar people from their faces alone. In the study with paintings, pigeons learned to sort paintings by Monet from paintings by Picasso. They even sorted new paintings they had never seen.
What's for Lunch?
Pigeons eat mostly seeds and grain, pecking as they walk across open ground. In cities, many pigeons also eat bread, popcorn and other scraps people drop. Bread fills a pigeon up but gives it very little goodness. Some towns even have rules against feeding pigeons.
Watch Quietly
City pigeons have wild neighbors too. Peregrine falcons hunt pigeons, and some falcons stay in cities because pigeons live there. So a pigeon is always on the lookout. The best way to enjoy pigeons is to sit still and watch quietly. Then you might see a head hold still or a beak sip.
Pigeon Quiz
What does a walking pigeon's head really do?
Show the answer
It holds still while the body moves, then zips ahead.
How do most birds drink, and how does a pigeon drink?
Show the answer
Most birds tip their heads back. A pigeon sips like using a straw.
Which pigeon parents make milk?
Show the answer
Both the mother and the father make it, in the crop.
Why do people almost never see baby pigeons?
Show the answer
Squabs stay hidden in the nest until they are almost fully grown.
Why did armies use homing pigeons?
Show the answer
Pigeons can fly home from far away carrying short notes.
In the study, what did the park pigeons do after a person chased them?
Show the answer
They avoided that person, even in a different coat.
Glossary
- crop
- A body part where both pigeon parents make pigeon milk for their chicks.
- feral
- Living free after coming from tame animals. City pigeons are feral.
- homing pigeon
- A pigeon bred and trained to fly back to its home loft.
- loft
- A house where people keep pigeons.
- rock dove
- The wild cliff bird that every city pigeon comes from.
- squab
- A baby pigeon. Squabs stay in the nest until almost grown.
- structural color
- Color made by light bouncing in a thin layer, not by paint.
- ultraviolet
- A kind of light that pigeons can see and people cannot.
How We Know
Every fact here comes from a published source.