MY PIGEON PRINCIPLE
I have long had a theory about pigeons and how you can tell a person’s character by their treatment of pigeons.
Living in NYC has proven to be the perfect place to test my theory. If cities were to have a bird, like states, New York City’s bird would be the pigeon. I do not know how many there are - but estimates show there is roughly one pigeon per city resident. That’s almost 9 million.
I have lived in NYC for over 40 years, most of my life, and I have never had an issue co-existing with pigeons. They do their thing and I do mine. In my attempts to beautify my fire escapes and window ledges over the years, pigeons have occasionally shacked up on my planters. With all the pigeons in the city, you would think you would see nests everywhere, but not so. They are surprisingly private and I bet most New Yorker’s have never seen a pigeon nest. A few times we had nests on our AC window unit, and most recently we had pigeon visitors on our ledge 23 flights up. I always enjoyed their cooing and friendly faces peeking in the window from the outside. I can’t say they have ever caused me harm.
I started feeding the pigeons, not out of intention, but enjoyment. Along with pigeons we also have a lot of house sparrows. These are tiny brown and black birds you may not notice, as they camouflage easily and spend a lot of time in bushes and trees. They have a very short lifespan in the wild - 3-4 years, one year longer than a pigeon, but both could live over a decade or more if not for the harsh city conditions. Along with the pigeons, I started giving them a few crumbs on my morning walk and it became a thing.
Birds, like any animal are not dumb, and when there is a food or water source that comes regularly they will and do remember it. I thought it might be my dog they recognize, but when I hold him, they still sometimes come. I am honestly not sure. It could be the scent of my dog, as birds do have a sense of smell, although no one knows how strong it is. Most likely they recognize my voice, or me, or my dog, or all of it. According to this study, birds recognize their human friends by voice and sight.
I have always been drawn to birds, and pigeons in particular have captured my heart. While I do enjoy their company, I empathize with the role they play in society, being hated and despised for no reason.
Contrary to what many think, pigeons do not spread diseases, but their poop can be harmful, just like any animal poop is, and when cleaning large amounts you should definitely be careful. However sitting next to pigeons will not get you sick, which is not the case when sitting next to a human.
Pigeons were once revered. In WW2 pigeons were used to send messages regularly and one bird in particular, GI Joe, received a medal for his part in saving the lives of 100 soldiers.
Not only are they helpful, pigeons also are some of the most resilient creatures on this planet. Sit and watch them one day. You will see many injured, some with stumps as feet, some without a leg, many with fishing line or other human garbage wrapped around their feet, and yet they persist. On Rockaway Beach I see many with large black oil clumps stuck to their feathers.
From what I have observed, a pigeon is just trying to survive its hard city life of 3 years, hoping for food,a drink of water (most likely from an oil slicked source by the curb) and means no harm to anyone.
Which brings me back to my theory.
When I see someone chasing, screaming, kicking at or wishing ill will towards pigeons, I wonder. I wonder why they would direct hate to something that has little, or no consequence to them, except existing. And then I think of how people hate other people who have little or no consequence to them and my thesis takes shape.
I wonder, do these people who hate pigeons for no reason, also hate people for no reason? The ones who are battered and injured, who sleep in rags and smell and scramble for food and water to survive. The ones who sit huddled on a park bench ignored and are still hated for simply existing?
I haven’t asked. Although next time I am verbally attacked for feeding the pigeons, and it is frequent, I might ask them.
People have taken pictures of me, screamed at me, asked my building if the pigeon feeding woman lived here, and recently stopped me on the street to demand I stop feeding the pigeons. Their distress is that the pigeons on their ledge were causing them great distress. The noise of the bird landing on the 5 inch ledge was affecting their quality of life. That large groups of pigeons gathered outside the building when dogs walked out in the morning. It is only the morning, as they move on after 11am.
I do not want my actions to be a negative part of anyone’s quality of life. So I listened.
I then explained to them my theory. How pigeons are seen as the dregs of this city for no reason. How I pity them and also honor them with food when I can. How my Mom taught me to love all animals. I explained how they once helped save our lives during the war and while many disregard them, they bring me joy. I even have named some of them who frequently follow me. I told him I did not want to cause stress in his life and that I would feed them far away from our building. Which I now do.
We parted ways not in anger, but I think with a little more understanding of one another.
I don’t think I changed this humans mind, just as he did not change mine. But we are both able to see each others side and co-exist. And in these times of extreme differences, that feels good.
All thanks to the pigeons.
Be well - Christine