Pigeons, the rats with wings, the jerks who poop on you or your stuff – the enemy of most people. These medium sized birds, originally from the mountain areas of the world, seem to have found their way here, attached to us humans. Everywhere you turn, there they are. You can’t escape them. But why are they always around? Why are they so attached to us humans? But the main question is why do we humans hate them?

Pigeons were originally from Europe and the Middle East. The earliest known recording of pigeons comes from 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia. Carved into the rock formations you can see pigeons, they were used for sacrifices by the Ancient Egyptians. The domesticated pigeon was originally rock doves, and as the name suggests they lived in cliffs and caves in rocky areas, but with time humans domesticated them by feeding them and breeding them till they became their own breed: the domesticated pigeon. These birds were first bred to be food for humans, but with time people would keep them as messengers and pets. These birds are amazing with directions. If you were to send them somewhere far away they would be able to find their way home. The pigeons have this magnetic sense called magnetoreceptor which uses the Earth’s magnetic field to find their way back home, but they can also use visual cues and landmarks to navigate. Because of this, pigeons became messengers for humans. The sailors and other people travelling to new lands would take pigeons with them to use for not just sending and receiving messages but also for navigating. And thus, pigeons found their way everywhere in the world. Everywhere there were people, there were pigeons. But as you know with time new technology was discovered, and the pigeon became no longer useful to us, so we simply got rid of them and “set them free”. But where would they go? They only ever knew one way of living. They only knew to live with us for food, and now that we don’t need them, we have abandoned them and left them in the streets to eat our garbage.

The hate for pigeons is absolutely not deserved. The pigeon is a beautiful species of bird with blue-ish grey feathers and colourful iridescent feathers around their necks and chest. The pigeon is also of course smart with their navigational skills. In World War II a small pigeon named G.I. Joe saved the lives of many British allies by simply delivering a message to the US Air support. They had plans to bomb the city of Colvi Vecchia, Italy to help the British and make entering the city easier, but the British had already invaded, and thus if G.I. Joe failed to deliver the message, many British allies would have lost their lives by their very own allies. However, people still don’t like pigeons because they think they are dirty and filled with diseases. I mean, they are street animals and of course they are going to be a little dirty. These animals live outside in the big, bad world. They eat garbage and live in big groups in their own filth, so it is bound to happen that disease spreads. They also poop everywhere, and no one wants poop on their clothes or the bench they sit on. They dirty our cities and statues, beautiful monuments desecrated by pigeon poop, which is a valid reason to hate them, but one thing to always keep in mind is that pigeons are animals. What seems like something gross to us is normal for them. Our cities have become their homes. We brought them here with us to use them, but now that we don’t need them we discarded them and got mad that they won’t leave? They only know how to be around us. Pigeons don’t deserve hate as they used to be a useful and loyal pet. They would help sailors navigate, they would send messages for noblemen and if I’m being completely honest I would rather receive a letter from a pigeon than via text, that is WAY cooler. 

Sadly, not everyone will see the beauty of pigeons. I personally have always found pigeons beautiful. They are smart, strong birds that have survived so much in this world. And they also mate for life, which is so cute. They are like us, but if we were birds, and yet they get no love. If we were to help the pigeons instead of hurting them and getting mad at them we could reach a place where we both enjoy life together. Because we brought them into our world, so we should try to now make it a home for us all.

And remember, never disrespect a pigeon by calling them ugly or gross, because pigeons are the reason why we humans are where we are now. So put some respect on the domesticated pigeon’s name. 

Kimberly Heronimo

sources:

Wikipedia- Domesticated pigeons

RSPCA- Pigeons

American racing pigeon union- G.I. Joe

Allaboutbirds.org- Rock pigeons