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Life

Pigeons are misunderstood: These little-known facts will prove why

They were loved by Charles Darwin, they build brilliantly bad nests and they even produce a kind of “milk”. Surely, these facts are more than enough to foster a love for the urban pigeon

By Joshua Howgego

11 December 2024

A pigeon looks in the photographer's camera in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on November 17, 2016. / AFP / dpa / Frank Rumpenhorst / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read FRANK RUMPENHORST/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

Pigeons have a lot more going on that you might assume

I had always felt ambivalent towards pigeons. The birds 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…

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