Pigeons have a lot more going on that you might assume
I had always felt ambivalent towards pigeons. Pigeons are everywhere in London, where I live, and that made them fade into the background for me. I didn’t hate them, but neither did I take any particular interest in them.
Then a chance encounter set me wondering if I could learn to love the humble pidge, a question that I spent some of this year delving into. As I started my research, I stumbled upon pigeon fact after pigeon fact that really surprised me. Here are a few of those facts – they just might change the way you think about these much-maligned city birds.
1. Pigeons produce ‘milk’
It is odd to think of pigeons producing milk, but it’s true. It doesn’t come from a mammary gland, but instead a special area of cells in the lower oesophagus called the crop, and adult pigeons regurgitate it for their young for the first 10 days after they hatch. Although it is yellower and more solid than what we might think of as milk, it has a similar blend of nutrients and immune-boosting properties. A few other species of bird produce this “crop milk” too, including penguins and flamingos.
2. They make hilariously bad nests
Perhaps my favourite thing about pigeons is that they make truly awful nests – think a few sticks placed in the approximate vicinity of an egg. There is even an account on X that documents them called Bad Pigeon Nests. Outside of cities, pigeons would naturally have nested among rocks, so wouldn’t have…
