Facts That Will change Your Mind About Pigeons

Donnie Zehr May 19, 25

As I walked by a huge flock of pigeons, all at once they took flight with power and sync. But what I was suddenly curious about was why there are so many of them in every city in the world?

And by the way, when you say pigeon, be specific! There are over 300 species.

Woody Allen famously defined them as “rats with wings” in his movie Stardust Memories, though It was originally coined by Thomas Hoving, New York City’s parks commissioner, in 1966. The movie, however, spread the negative rap on pigeons like fire. They were ״officially״ bullying parasites who spread diseases.  

Thankfully there are many who, despite the gloomy pigeon outlook, still spread bread crumbs in their town square. Washington square - NYC, Trafalgar Square - London, Melbourne/Sydney - Australia, Buenos Aires - Argentina, Mumbai - India…the list goes on. 

Makes you think: these guys have taken over the world!

Except for the passenger pigeon who went from their millions to extinct within 40 years!

Why these massive numbers? Why pigeons, of all species?  And do they really deserve Woody Allen’s marque of infamy?

Here are a few facts I learned.

And maybe after you read them…

You might, just like me, change your mind.

1. BEFORE THE POST OFFICE, THERE WERE PIGEONS

Pigeons were our first “text messages.”

They have an incredible sense of direction called “homing” i.e., knowing where “home” is from a remarkable distance. They can find their nests from thousands of miles away to which they can fly at the speed of 50-90 MPH.

No one knows exactly how pigeons honed homing. There are only surmises.

According to the researches at the PNAS, homing pigeons have their own compass which relates to the sun. The position and angle of the sun are basically their GPS. They might also have their own mapping system.

Another theory is magnetoreception. Pigeons use the earth’s magnetic fields as their guidance. Researchers discovered that pigeons have a concentration of iron particles in their beaks – which aid them in detecting these magnetic fields.

Other theories suggest low frequencies of infrasound (low frequency sound waves) which are created by pretty much everything – including the earth’s crust. (The outer shell of the planet.)

Humans are unable to hear these sounds, but you know who can? Yup. Pigeons. Pigeons listen to these sounds until the hear the infrasound of their very own nest – which grows louder the closer they get home. They might be recognizing the sounds of various milestones – like humans know to “take a left” at certain landmarks such as roads, railway lines and rivers.

10,000 years ago, way before the first mailman inserted the first letter into a mailbox, ancient Egyptians discovered these flyers homing abilities and utilized it to their advantage. They would train the pigeons by taking them few miles away from home and letting them fly back to their nests. They would then take the pigeons even further from their nests and see them, again, finding home. These pigeons eventually made it from over a thousand miles away, the same distance as Dallas, TX is to Cancun, Mexico. 

My partner and I got lost in the jungles of Thailand, where venomous snakes, leopards and elephants roam free. As it got darker, we panicked and were not sure if to walk back into the night in the same route we started with, or carry on. We chose to carry on and luckily, within a few hundred feet, accidentally discovered we were close to the main road. We sighed in such relief!

Pigeons have definitely evolved better than us with their sense of direction.

In the end - it is not clear how pigeons navigate their homing skills, we can only assume that they are just super cool for having these incredible powers.