I suppose their domestication is partly to blame for their infamous nest making skills, but its still a shame that they’ve been discarded considering previous use cases that were once popular like letter delivery
pigeons are domesticated rock doves. rock doves nest in small caves, so the only nest building they need to do is a few sticks to prevent eggs from rolling out of the caves.
My father's family raised pigeons for local restaurants in 1930s California. They were cost-competitive with chicken back before the 1950s-60s chicken breeders shifted the dollars-per-pound growth curve.
This article does not do a very good job of talking about why pigeons were domesticated, and instead, rely upon argumentation by pathos. It only mentions racing in passing, but breeding pigeons for racing weakens the whole argument.
In the Middle East, pigeons were raised as a food source. There are structures that allow flocks to nest, and from time to time, people would cook some for food.
I have seen a video of someone doing so in London with one of the many free roaming pigeons.
There may be other relationships pigeons have with humans.
It’s still possible to redomesticate pigeons. There are some obstacles. If they are going to be harvested for food, then people need some way to make sure they are disease free, and on-site butchering is legal.
I used to see pigeons everywhere as a kid. Now they are very rare. I like these animals and many others, and I wish TFA went more into what can be done.
I'm always happy to see pigeons around. They are a lot rarer these days. I remember, before West Nile came around, they would blanket an area. People would have to wash their cars every other day because they would poop on the roofs. Especially if you parked under a tree.
It was the same with crows and sparrows too. Now, you're a lot less likely to see cool birds in urban areas.
Around the mich med main campus/huron river, in the winter, there will be a couple of days here and there that thousands and thousands of crows decide to blanket the campus with poop and caw at you as you try to navigate it with your feet. Good idea to have a hood up or hat on.
Used to hate pigeons in my 20s. Not like, vile hatred or anything like that, just.... man, what's up with these pigeons.
Now, I live at a place that has a tiny pigeon colony right outside my window. Every morning, a cute pigeon couple flies up to my window sill to watch me for a bit. Sometimes they're not there, presumably hanging out with other pigeons.
Their instinct's to fly away from me if I get close or adjust in my seat, but when we're all just chilling, their feathers floof up into a ball of what looks like comfortable warmth. They slowly blink their eyes like cats and their preening care for each other is always cute.
This is an Angloamerican thing - especially British - propagandizing and hating pigeons to the extent of calling them 'flying plague' and whatnot. Its not seen elsewhere in the world, even in the Mediterranean. You can still find major city squares full of pigeons as a policy, where people go to see the pigeons or feed them.
>But in doing so, we’ve stripped away the very traits they need to survive on their own
Interesting, I wonder if these explains why I do not see pigeons around the small city (~100,000) I live in. 40 years ago, you saw them everywhere, but in the mid to late 90s, hawks started showing up in the city.
I suppose their domestication is partly to blame for their infamous nest making skills, but its still a shame that they’ve been discarded considering previous use cases that were once popular like letter delivery
pigeons are domesticated rock doves. rock doves nest in small caves, so the only nest building they need to do is a few sticks to prevent eggs from rolling out of the caves.
They were also popular as food, and for use of their excrement as agricultural fertilizer. Probably more so than letter delivery.
My father's family raised pigeons for local restaurants in 1930s California. They were cost-competitive with chicken back before the 1950s-60s chicken breeders shifted the dollars-per-pound growth curve.
they were discarded 100 years ago? somehow they are still everywhere
Pigeons are highly adaptable and pretty smart, on top of breeding like hell.
This article does not do a very good job of talking about why pigeons were domesticated, and instead, rely upon argumentation by pathos. It only mentions racing in passing, but breeding pigeons for racing weakens the whole argument.
In the Middle East, pigeons were raised as a food source. There are structures that allow flocks to nest, and from time to time, people would cook some for food.
I have seen a video of someone doing so in London with one of the many free roaming pigeons.
There may be other relationships pigeons have with humans.
It’s still possible to redomesticate pigeons. There are some obstacles. If they are going to be harvested for food, then people need some way to make sure they are disease free, and on-site butchering is legal.
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I used to see pigeons everywhere as a kid. Now they are very rare. I like these animals and many others, and I wish TFA went more into what can be done.
I'm always happy to see pigeons around. They are a lot rarer these days. I remember, before West Nile came around, they would blanket an area. People would have to wash their cars every other day because they would poop on the roofs. Especially if you parked under a tree.
It was the same with crows and sparrows too. Now, you're a lot less likely to see cool birds in urban areas.
Around the mich med main campus/huron river, in the winter, there will be a couple of days here and there that thousands and thousands of crows decide to blanket the campus with poop and caw at you as you try to navigate it with your feet. Good idea to have a hood up or hat on.
Used to hate pigeons in my 20s. Not like, vile hatred or anything like that, just.... man, what's up with these pigeons.
Now, I live at a place that has a tiny pigeon colony right outside my window. Every morning, a cute pigeon couple flies up to my window sill to watch me for a bit. Sometimes they're not there, presumably hanging out with other pigeons.
Their instinct's to fly away from me if I get close or adjust in my seat, but when we're all just chilling, their feathers floof up into a ball of what looks like comfortable warmth. They slowly blink their eyes like cats and their preening care for each other is always cute.
They are not graceful.
Here they are abandon or kill (not fast) kill hunting dogs when they are 'too old'. Humans are great.
This is an Angloamerican thing - especially British - propagandizing and hating pigeons to the extent of calling them 'flying plague' and whatnot. Its not seen elsewhere in the world, even in the Mediterranean. You can still find major city squares full of pigeons as a policy, where people go to see the pigeons or feed them.
>But in doing so, we’ve stripped away the very traits they need to survive on their own
Interesting, I wonder if these explains why I do not see pigeons around the small city (~100,000) I live in. 40 years ago, you saw them everywhere, but in the mid to late 90s, hawks started showing up in the city.
Now, you hardly seen any pigeons.