Pigeons are those cooing birds you see on tall buildings in the midst of busy city sidewalks. Think of Home Alone and the bird lady rising up out of the brush in Central Park. She was covered with pigeons. Pigeons have been known to congregate where people are, and in fact the relationship between pigeons and human dates back to before 3000 BC. Because of this, Pigeons actually are a rare type of bird that have domesticated roots. However most urban pigeons are feral, much like a wild cat.
In wartime, pigeons have been used to send messages back and forth between troops. In both World War I and World War II, pigeons saved thousands of lives crossing enemy lines back and forth. They were also carried on fleets of ships on the ocean and in case of a U-boat attack, the pigeon could be sent out with the location and information about the sinking ship.
Even when released hundreds of miles away, a pigeon is able to find its way home. It is believed by some it was a pigeon that Noah sent from his ark, who actually brought back the first sign of land in her beak, bringing hope to the sea farers.
History dates the official use of pigeons back to the civilizations of Persia and Syria. In the days of the Roman Empire, pigeons were used to communicate information about conquests and sporting events such as the first Olympic games. The last recorded pigeon uses for messages were as late as 2004 in India by both the British and French governments. The pigeons were allowed to retire with honors.
Pigeons also have a religious significance for some. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs all feed pigeons as a religious ritual. The reasons are varied with each tradition. Other religious groups in India believe that when a person dies, their soul takes the form of a bird, so the act of feeding a pigeon is like caring for a soul of the dearly departed.
Pigeons have a superb memory and can be taught much like a dog. When given a set of pictures, they were able to group 128 pictures into 16 categories of either human made or natural objects.
There are people who walk city streets such as Chicago and New York, who view the pigeons as companions, much like the character in Home Alone. The pigeons kept the woman in the park company. She sat and fed those birds and they in turn stayed with her. Pigeons have been studied over time and those who have done research agree there is a therapeutic quality about pigeons. Once they have accepted a person and have built an element of trust back and forth, the relationship can be fairly attached. They do have a keen intelligence and other than the noticed relationships between the people who dwell on the streets with pigeons or those who keep pigeons on their property, we do not have a way to measure the emotional intelligence of the pigeon. But some who study pigeons believe their IE is higher than other birds and may rival that of dogs.
Some people believe pigeon means “pest” but the actual meaning of the word pigeon is a French translation of the word, “dove.”
