London's pigeon... problem?
The story behind the feral city pigeon
Pigeons were once man’s best friend.
Their fall from grace is a social justice issue, one which various groups, over the decades, have taken up. Most recently it has become a social media trend to feel sorry for the birds, lamenting that the history of human-pigeon co-dependency is too quickly forgotten.
While it’s true that, on a rainy day, the ragtag birds sometimes fade into the grey skies, concrete, and smog of London, they weren’t always seen as pests – much less ‘sky rats’, as they’re now popularly known.
This name association could be more powerful than we think. Feral pigeons, our fellow feathered city-dwellers, were once known as rock doves, the closest related species in the Columbidae pigeon-dove family. Evoking colourful plumage and perhaps a particularly cool underground band, the rock dove doesn’t have quite the same rep as its urban descendent.
The feral pigeon came to be through years – centuries – of domestication, selective breeding, and eventually, abandonment by humans. Where now you’ll mostly hear complaints about the pavement-bound birds, it was only two decades ago that they were as popular an attraction in London as the sites they defacated on.
Mapping the human-pigeon friendship and fallout over time reveals a little more nuance than our current stance might suggest.
“The Feral Pigeon owes part of its success as a city breeding species to urban man’s need to feel some other form of life dependent on him. Since there are many more people who enjoy feeding the Feral Pigeon than there are who dislike its habit of excreting on and from buildings on which it lives, officials’ attempts to reduce the number of the species meet with little success.”
- Terry Gompertz, Bird Study, 1957 -
Pet to pest: pigeons since 1950
An article published in ‘Bird Study’, an ornithological journal, in 1957 by a London resident who became interested in a pair of feral pigeons nesting on his window ledge tells us a lot about how attitudes have changed.
Terry Gompertz saw pigeons favourably, almost as a rebellious force of nature which dares to thrive in the walls of a city designed to be hostile towards it.
He spoke with affection of pigeon feeding as a hobby and the companionship it could provide the more eccentric in society.
But already, in the 1950s, there are hints of distain for pigeons-as-pests coming through.
Gompertz mentions that pigeon excretions are particularly unwelcome in “upper class residential areas” and that officials are making “attempts to reduce the number of the species” (albeit with “little success,” due to their popularity).
But it was this attitude which hooked Londoners and evolved in the 1960s, when the first ideas of pigeons being particularly diseased – more than other wild birds – took hold.
Suddenly, pigeons became vermin, akin to rats with their black plague carrying reputation.
The story of Trafalgar Square's pigeons
For 50 years, Bernard Rayner’s family was employed by Westminster Council to sell pigeon food to tourists and residents of London in Trafalgar Square, a place synonymous with the feathered feeders.
Feeding the pigeons was a popular pastime for children, tourists, and bird enthusiasts alike, and the bird population boomed into the thousands.
But in 2000, London’s first Mayor Ken Livingstone began something of a war on the pigeons - especially in the square.
His reasons were the high costs of cleaning up after the pigeons, the unsightliness of the birds and the fact that their acidic guano was damaging the structures in the square.
By 2003, Rayner had lost his bird feed selling licence, and bans were imposed on feeding pigeons around Nelson’s Column.
To keep the birds away without resorting to the cruelty of a cull, Livingstone employed a humane pest-control company to fly Harris Hawks over the square every morning, to scare their pigeon-prey away.
A grassroots group, Save the Trafalgar Square Pigeon, began a campaign to prevent what they saw as the cruel “starving out” of the city pigeons.
They employed guerilla pigeon-saving tactics, finding a loophole in the legal ban on feeding them in the north west side of the square.
Eventually, Livingstone and the group came to an agreement that a small amount of bird food would be dropped in the square each morning, to prevent a pigeon-threatening abrupt stop to the practice.
But Livingstone backed out of the agreement and by 2007, a total ban on pigeon feeding was implemented through the square’s byelaws, with rule-breakers facing a £500 fine.
Despite the ban, resistance lives on in the form of individuals supporting the pigeon population out of the kindness of their hearts.
But pigeons weren't always seen this way.
So how did we get here?
8000-4000 BC
Ancient pigeons
Pigeon domestication dates back to between six and ten thousand years, in ancient Mesopotamia in the Middle East and Europe. They proved an easy poultry to rear – simply providing a dovecote nest was enough to attract large populations, who foraged for their own food and produced ten or twelve squabs a year. Pigeons became an easy source of protein and their guano was used as a highly effective fertiliser.
1500
Pigeons as pets: Akbar the Great
Pigeons and doves remained prominent in the popular imagination. Akbar the Great, a 16th century Moghul Emperor, was said to keep a flock of 10,000 pigeons which he selectively bred to produce the most beautiful plumages. He’s pictured here with one of his beloved birds.
1800
Sport, science, and service
In the late Gregorian period, pigeon shooting became highly fashionable, and the Hurlingham Club in London was founded in 1869 for the express sporting purpose.
The first global news agency was set up in 1850 with the Great Barrier Pigeon-Gram Service - although pigeon’s homing instinct had been used to navigate and send messages for centuries.
In 1868, Charles Dawin published The Variation of Animals and Plans Under Domestication, which detailed the evolution of pigeons and proved that all modern species of Columbidae – at that time numbering hundreds, if not thousands – evolved from a common ancestor, the rock dove.
1900
War and pigeon
Pigeons have become famous for their wartime heroics. Used as messengers in war in conflicts throughout history, their British patriotism was first put to the test in World War One.
But it was the Second World War, when 250,000 homing pigeons were employed by the UK war office, that their legend began. Of those birds, 32 were awarded the Dickin Medal, the highest recognition for animal bravery.
2000
Pigeon pariah
As digital communications developed, pigeon shooting was replaced with clay, and attitudes developed, the Columbidae reputation took a dive in the 21st Century.
Perhaps a sign of the times, pigeon feeding was banned in London’s Trafalgar Square – which once attracted tourists as much with the birds as with Nelson’s Column – in 2007.
Why have pigeons and humans, historically, got on so well?
Like today’s feral pigeons, the behaviour of rock doves a few millennia ago when they were first adopted by humans echoed many of our own social conventions.
The birds mate in pairs, for life, in a seemingly equitable partnership of squab-raising. Both male and female pigeons can secrete pigeon ‘milk’ from their crops to feed their young, stimulated by the same hormone as that in humans, prolactin.
Pigeon-personality is another factor. The birds are docile and peaceful and tend to flap away from a fight – but still fiercely protective of their young.
The animals are also highly intelligent, with a homing instinct we can’t quite get our heads around.
The modern feral pigeon is even further adapted to a life alongside people and exhibit less fear of humans than any other Columbidae species.
While it’s clear that “urban man” no longer enjoys encouraging the pigeon population, the birds still take up space in the popular imagination and remain, for some, the pets and sporting birds that we once knew them as.
The forgotten fun of pigeon racing
Derek Doyle has been raising racing pigeons since he was ten years old.
At that time, in the 80s, pigeon racing was a popular hobby in the UK and, as Derek describes it, ‘a working man’s sport’.
The practice was so popular that many of Derek’s neighbours had pigeons, and two of his uncles gifted him a few to begin his own flock.
Now, he keeps 50-60 birds in his own home-aviary, some for racing and some for breeding.
But over the past 20 or 30 years, changing attitudes to pigeons have had an impact on the popularity of the practice..
"Like everything, once money gets involved, things get silly"
“It’s a dwindling sport, now, unfortunately,” Derek said. “It was always a working man’s sport, from about the 20s to the 70s – it was your average person’s pastime.
“It’s only over the last 20 or 30 years that it’s changed as like everything, once money gets involved, things get silly.”
Success in national and international pigeon races often comes down to how much time and money you can invest, with some keepers even hiring ‘loft manager’ employees to give their flock undivided attention.
The best breeding pigeons in the world can be pricey – the most expensive pigeon ever sold was to a racer in China, where the sport has taken hold in the upper echelons of society, for £1.5million.
But Derek explained that level of competition isn’t a requirement to getting involved.
“It’s very competitive at the top, but a lot of people just keep them and race for the fun of it, and for the camaraderie – to go down to the club twice a week and have a chat and a drink,” he explained.
“It just depends on what level you’re at.”
"They've got their own individual personalities, just like dogs or cats."
Derek is a member of Maidenhead Pigeon Club, which he says has been established in the area for a couple of hundred years and is one of 11 local clubs which make up the Berks, Bucks, and Oxon federation, covering the surrounding boroughs.
Each club and each federation host about 20 races a season, which runs from April until September. National and international races fly from France and Spain, for the most elite birds in the game.
The Barcelona International race is the most coveted title of all, with pigeons travelling more than 600 miles to get home. Last year, more than 16,000 pigeons were entered from Belgium, the UK, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Germany.
Hardcore pigeon breeders will pay for the best stock for specific categories, across sprinters, middle-distance, and long-distance birds. Each have different feeding regimes, care and upkeep.
But for smaller-scale pigeon keeping, many just keep them for the joy of it.
Derek said: “They’re more sporting animals for me, but obviously there’s a few of them who are pets, where I’ll walk in and they’ll sit on my shoulder while I’m cleaning and feeding them. They’ve all got their own individual personalities, just like dogs or cats.”
He added that he has to be careful not to form attachments, as racing can be dangerous for the pigeons. Throughout the season, hundreds are killed by hawks and peregrine falcons while they fly.
“You have to detach yourself, otherwise you’d be sitting in tears every Saturday,” he said.
The birds can live for more than 20 years, and are kept in lofts or aviaries, fed high quality food and kept clean. Despite all this, pigeon keeper’s still feel their flocks are misunderstood.
“Most people are of the opinion that they’re flying rats, they’re full of disease, and that’s it," Derek explained.
“They’re actually hated now. As soon as I mention to people that I’ve got pigeons, they go ‘ergh’. But my pigeons are vaccinated, they eat great food, and they’re bred for racing – the same as a thoroughbred racehorse. They're one hundred percent different to city pigeons."
The bad reputation we’re giving to feral pigeons is damaging the once beloved pastime of pigeon keeping.
More than 1100 identified breeds of pigeon exist today, established through human intervention and cross-breeding occurring in the wild.
Feral Pigeon
The 'mutt' of modern pigeon breeds. Feral pigeons have a common ancestor with many pigeons in the rock dove, but are the result of years of escapee domestic and sporting pigeons. This has resulted in wide variation in their plumage and physiology. These are the often scraggly birds you'll find walking down a London pavement.
Homing or racing pigeon
These have been called the thoroughbred of pigeons. The best birds of this breed can sell for millions to keepers, especially in Asia. While they come in range of colours, all of these birds share powerful chests for powerful flight and excellent navigation skills.
Wood pigeon
One of the largest and most common pigeon breeds, wood pigeons are mostly found, as their name suggests, in woodlands, where they appear shy. Generally, they're coloured grey, with brownish fronts and flashes of white on their necks and wings. They have a distinctive cooing which you'll likely hear in any forest you visit.
Fancy Pigeon
Ornamental breeds of pigeon come in a striking array of colours, patterns, shapes and sizes. Centuries, if not millennia, of selective breeding means that some of the birds are unrecognisable from their wild ancestors. Highlights include the frilly Jacobin and the frankly ridiculous English Pouter.
Rock Dove
The rock dove is the wild ancestor of all domestic pigeon breeds and variations. It was these birds which were first domesticated millions of years ago, in northern Africa and southern Europe. A few years ago, scientists discovered what might be the last population of rock doves which haven't interbred with feral pigeons in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
The wildlife of St James' Park
Kate and Mark
Sara
Nikki
Pigeons and doves, as one of the earliest domesticated birds, appear in remains of ancient cultures from up to 10,000 years ago. In the ancient Mediterranean world, doves represented the mother goddess, a symbol of female fertility.
Canaanite religions – indigenous ethnic groups of the Ancient Near East and Southern Levant in the second millennium BC - used doves as symbols of goddesses Asherah and Astarte. In the Roman Empire, goddesses like Venus and Fortunata were depicted in art or statues accompanied by doves.
This image shows doves drinking from a bowl, probably a copy of the original by Sosus of Pergamon created in Hadrian’s Villa in the first century AD.
Doves and pigeons have spiritual significance across many major religions and are especially present in Judaism and Christianity.
The flood story of Genesis relates that after the Ark has landed, Noah sends out a dove three times to see if the flood water has receded. The first time, the dove finds nothing and returns to the ark; the second, it returns with an olive branch, symbolising that God’s punishment is over and signifying peace; and the third time it does not return, meaning the flood water has gone. Their role as messengers and navigators means that doves appear repeatedly in religious parables.
Dove imagery is present in Jewish texts as evoking the suffering of the people in Judah with their mournful cry, but also, paradoxically, doves are represented as an instrument of atonement. Pigeons and doves were raised for religious sacrifice to cleanse ritual impurity throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Modern periods.
Associations with doves were further adapted in the New Testament, and in Renaissance art came to represent the Holy Spirit, for which it is still known today.
Pigeons were used extensively in communications during wartime throughout history, from the sixth century BC wars waged by the King of Persia to Julius Caesar, to the announcement of the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.
In Dundee last year a statue of Winkie the war hero pigeon was unveiled beside the River Tay. Winkie was one of the birds to win the Dickin Medal in the Second World War, for her remarkable life-saving actions.
In 1942, an RAF Beaufort Bomber went down in the North Sea. The crew were left helpless, but released Winkie – without a message – who flew 120 miles back to base in England. The RAF were able to work out where the plane went down based on the birds flight and their last contact with the bomber. They were able to rescue the crew.
Birds like Winkie meant that, for a time, pigeons were beloved for their service for their country.
Renowned artist Pablo Picasso lived through both world wars and was an advocate for peace, both through his art and life. After the end of the Second World War, he made his first lithograph of a white dove, representing peace and his hope for disarmament and reconciliation. It was designed in 1949 as the logo of the World Peace Conference in Paris.
Since then, the dove has been adopted as a symbol for hope and peace by organisations and individuals around the world.
Pigeons feature repeatedly in popular films, but rarely find themselves the star of the show. As in life, the birds are such an essential part of the scenery that not seeing them in city scenes could be unsettling. As such, flocks of pigeons are manipulated into shots – either through the attractions of bird feed, special effects, or through hiring trained birds – to add authenticity.
Disney’s cult classic 1964 film, Mary Poppins, features pigeons in one of its most moving scenes. The ‘Bird Woman’ and her song, Tuppence a Bag, has been evoking viewers’ sympathy for the pigeons of St Pauls for 60 years. The scene’s plot arguably also carries an anti-capitalist message, as young Michael is encouraged to invest his tuppence in charity for the woman and the happiness of the birds, rather than his father’s bank.
And in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the now revered character of ‘Pigeon Lady’ plays a heart-warming role in Kevin’s trials.
More recently, sympathy for the abandoned city pigeon has been a TikTok trend. The #pigeon tag on TikTok has more than 680K posts at time of writing. Videos include revealing the sad history of the feral pigeon’s plight in the city, showing the friendly personality of the birds, and content around pigeons-as-pets.
One creator and singer-songwriter, Peach PRC on the app, has posted multiple videos appealing for sympathy for the maltreated birds, and even wrote a song to the city pigeon: Darling Rock Dove.
Cartoonist and writer, naturalist, and pigeon-watcher Rosemary thinks pigeons are the most overlooked bird in the world.
Having lived in cities her whole life, Rosemary described observing urban nature by necessity, and finding that the constant, calming presence of birds could be a refuge for a shy kid.
City nature is closely tied to human history, and when that combination led Rosemary to studying feral pigeons, she discovered a niche interest.
“Once I learnt that backstory I was hooked, you know, I was never going to be uninterested,” she said.
Now, living in Massachusetts, she has two loud pet parrots, a bird which she describes as a “puppy with a knife on its face.”
She wrote A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird to try and improve the reputation of the maligned city bird.
“What happened to pigeons was similar to what happened to the fax machine.
“Both were once incredibly useful to humans, and then became obsolete, and then became really annoying,” she explained.
Although pigeons were once critically important and travelled the world assisting people, in the past century we replaced all of these uses with modern technology, and then started seeing the birds we bred as pests.
But because of this breeding, pigeons have been shaped to want to be near people, and because they live on our structures and scavenge on city waste, they’re something of an urban symbol. Rosemary said: “They symbolise the little bit of chaos that you naturally find in cities.”
Any city resident will tell you that nowadays, myths about the city pigeon are rife. Are they diseased? Is their poo acidic? Are they government drones? Luckily, Rosemary has the answers.
Listen to Rosemary reading an excerpt of "Pigeon Watching" here:
Are pigeons diseased?
Any creature has a slew of diseases and parasites and pests they can pass on. For the most part, pigeons are not the problem we think they are. Seeing pigeons in the park, rescuing injured birds, and feeding them are not likely to cause you any issues, although they can pose a risk for immunocompromised people.
The first pigeon health scare, which occurred in the 1960s when the birds saw a real downturn in popularity, was to do with the idea that pigeons carry meningitis. It’s since been proved that they don’t, and never have – but the myth has run away with itself, and pigeons continue to be blamed for diseases they don’t carry.
Why do we never see baby pigeons?
You probably have! Just as in the wild pigeons nest in holes in cliffs or hidden sheltered areas, city pigeons keep their young on top of air conditioners or other secret crevices in buildings, where they’ll stay until they’re old enough to come out. At that point, they’re more like pigeon teenagers, and to the untrained eye they look a lot like fully grown birds. Differences to spot are that their feathers are usually lighter, their necks aren’t as glossy, their eyes are grey-ish instead of bright orange, and they don’t have the white swelling over their beaks called the cere.
Even if you haven’t spotted a baby pigeon, you’ve probably heard them. They’re known as squeakers because of the high-pitched whistling sound they make. Although Rosemary thinks they’re cute, she also described them as looking like a “slightly mouldy, lumpy potato".
Do pigeons get crippled feet because they spend so much time on the ground, pooing on themselves?
Rosemary gave an assurance: “That’s definitely not what’s going on!” Because pigeons forage by walking on the ground – where other birds will hop or fly – and because they’re in an urban environment, they simply hurt their feet on debris get small cuts and injuries. They’ll also get tangled up in threads, string, netting, and hair that will wrap around their toes and eventually cut off blood circulation, a phenomenon known as “string foot”.
Does the acidity of pigeon poo damage buildings?
This one might have to remain a mystery – there’s no real quantification of how much damage pigeon poo does. It’s likely that they do some damage, if only from the build-up of pigeon excrement over time.
Are pigeons government drones?
“If they were, I think they’d be doing a better job at it! Right now they’re just getting lots of footage of peoples ankles," said Rosemary.
Although pigeons being involved in surveillance is absolutely a myth, they do have a long history of working for governments. They were a crucial military technology up until World War Two, and hero pigeons likely saved hundreds of lives. In that way, you could say they were government spies.
Are white doves released at weddings, or are they really just pigeons?
For the most part, they’re just white homing pigeons. And there’s not as much difference between pigeons and doves as people think – the names are more like a quirk of the English language.
Rosemary explains that as English-speaking explorers travelled the world and encountered birds that fit within the Columbidae family, they would name some pigeon and some dove – seemingly arbitrarily. Matters were complicated around the time of the Norman Conquest with the arrival of the French word pigeon. The names were applied regardless of the animals’ evolutionary relationships, so there’s no real difference in terms of individual species. The city pigeon is one example – it’s known to many as the rock dove.
So, what do we do with them, now we introduced them to our urban environment, and they decided to stay?
Whether or not to feed feral pigeons is something of an ethical conundrum, as it turns out. On the one hand, feeding pigeons means more pigeons - in often overcrowded, rough urban environments, with scarce and low-quality food sources.
On the other, we created and bred the birds to keep around us, and there’s an argument that we have an obligation of care. The issue becomes complicated.
The general consensus is that the best way to manage the pigeon population is to reduce the amount of food they’re getting. However, Rosemary points out there’s a psychological barrier to the strategy.
‘There’s a human emotional component in that people really, really want to feed the pigeons. If you ban pigeon feeding, people will go at night and feed them anyway.”
If you’re feeling torn, don’t worry – there are other ways you can help out our feathered friends, including making sure buildings are safe for them to nest in; clearing up litter that could harm them, especially netting and string; taking injured pigeons to rehabilitators; and encouraging people to be kinder to them.
Perhaps it’s time to reappraise the status of the poor city pigeon, and welcome back the bird we once loved.
Image credits
Pigeons on the street lamp: Martin Vorel via Libreshot
Pigeons on a pavement: Fidam Nazim qizi via Pexels
Trafalgar square: via Pixabay
Trained falcon with handler: stephensamuel at English Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons
BD436 Babylonian Bird God: Charles Tilford via Flikr
Mughal Akbar – Drawing: National Museum, New Delhi via picryl
The variation of animals and plants under domestication (1900): NCSU Libraries via picryl
Messenger pigeon released from British tank 1918: via picryl
City pigeons perched on a wall: Felix Haumann via Pexels
Three pigeons in loft: credit Derek Doyle
Pigeon loft in garden: credit Derek Doyle
Two pigeons in bowl: credit Derek Doyle
Europe map: Alexrk2 via Wikimedia Commons (edits by me)
Pigeon transport on race day: credit Derek Doyle
One pigeon in loft: credit Derek Doyle
Feral pigeon: Albert Bridge via geograph
Racing pigeon: Monandowitsch via Wikimedia Commons
Wood pigeon: Gerard Meyer via Flickr
Fancy pigeon: via Pixabay
Rock dove: harum.co via Flikr
Mosaic depicting doves drinking from bowl: Mary Harrsch via Flikr
Pigeon on Jesus Christ statue: via PickPik
Flock of pigeons standing on a ledge: garystockbridge617 via getarchive.net
Pablo Picasso, Dove of Peace, 1949, lithograph on paper
Mary Poppins, Disney, dir. Robert Stevenson,1964
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, 20th Century Studios, dir. Chris Columbus, 1992
Rosemary Mosco: credit Rosemary Mosco
A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching book cover: credit Rosemary Mosco
Pigeon on rail: via Pixabay
Pigeon nestlings: via Wikimedia Commons
Droppings on the roof: Ravi Khemka via Flikr
Pigeons against a brick wall: Frédéric Bisson via Flikr
Black and white pigeon: Farhan Mukadam via Pexels
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