BirdNote; Pigeons Love Cities - But We Loved Them First

BirdNote®

Pigeons Love Cities - But We Loved Them First

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Rock Pigeon flapping, then calling, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/167946961#_ga=2.4163696.1502895711.15…, 0.02-.05]

Pigeons are everywhere in our cities. But how did they get there? Short answer: we invited them.

It started in the earliest cities of Mesopotamia, 7000 years ago. Humans cultivated grain; wild pigeons came to forage. Mesopotamians encouraged pigeons to nest in man-made shelters… But they had some ulterior motives. Pigeons’ fat chicks — or squabs — were a delicacy, and adult pigeons were sacrificed to the gods.

[ Rock Pigeon calls, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/3891#_ga=2.25012474.1502895711.156357…, 0.04-.-08]

Early civilizations also discovered pigeons’ brilliant homing ability. The birds could point wandering ships homeward and speedily carry messages across large distances.

Pigeon racing — which is still a sport today — has ancient roots, too.

Charles Darwin bred pigeons, and pondered their inherited traits.

[Rock Pigeon flapping, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/167023011#_ga=2.126271821.1502895711…, 0.03-.05]

So until recently in our shared history, pigeons did all the work. Serving as meat, sacrifices, navigators, messengers, racers, hobby supplies and science experiments.

And they took readily to cities because, long before they met up with people, pigeons nested on cliffs, making them perfectly suited to building their nests on skyscrapers or tucked into the eaves of urban apartment complexes.

Though some might see them as winged rats in today’s cities, pigeons and people have a long-standing bond. Especially in our urban environment.

[Rock Pigeon calls, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/3891#_ga=2.25012474.1502895711.156357…, 0.04-.-08]

For BirdNote, I’m Ashley Ahearn.

###

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Sallie Bodie

Editor: Ashley Ahearn

Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone

Assistant Producer: Mark Bramhill

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. ML167946961 recorded by P Marvin 0:05- 0:25. ML3891 by J Kimball 0:35.

ML167023011 by P Marvin 0:56 and as ambient throughout

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

© 2020 BirdNote February 2020 Narrator: Ashley Ahearn

ID# ROPI-06-2020-02-21 ROPI-06

Primary source: https://www.livescience.com/63923-why-cities-have-so-many-pigeons.html

Also: http://mentalfloss.com/article/54844/history-pigeon

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rock_pigeon/lifehistory