True Facts: Pigeons Are Tricking You

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“And that’s not all. Pigeons can make children cry, with science!” Well I’m sold

I live in a major US city in a place where it tends to be very hot 'round the clock in summertime. Like many city-dwellers, I did not have a very positive impression of pigeons, what with all of the pooping and half-ass nest building mess. One night, though, during a nasty heat wave (we're talking over 100F even at midnight), I went through an area at my workplace where there was a pigeon nest on top of a block wall, under the edge of a roof. Both parents were present, but one of them was perched on the roof edge while the other was hanging onto the edge of the block wall, vigorously flapping its wings. After a good five minutes, they traded places, and the flapping started up again from the one now hanging on the block wall. I suddenly realized that they were taking turns fanning the chicks, trying to keep them cool despite temperatures that can, and have, killed adult humans. I went inside, got a cup of water, and left it near the wall for them; after I walked a few feet away, the resting parent flew down to drink, then took up fan position while the other went to drink. (A few hours later, I found that one of my coworkers--an older lady who rarely had much of a kind word or gentle demeanor for anybody--had brought out the little battery-powered fan from her desk and clamped it to the roof edge a short distance from the nest, and both parents were taking a break and preening each other.) I've had a different view of pigeons ever since that incident. That kind of parental devotion deserves some recognition.

I'm so glad more people are appreciating pigeons now. They've been domesticated and owned as pets for so long that they're really more like stray dogs or stray cats than any other 'pest.' We brought them to our cities and then abandoned them, and I'm glad they're getting recognition for how sweet and smart they are!

6:30 "Have you ever been in a box with a banana? Might be kind of overwhelming, going through the life choices you made that led you to that moment." LMAOOOO

"Pigeon Love" -- the B side to "Stuffin' Puffin Muffin"

"Remember, this was the '80s. Everyone was on cocaine." True facts, indeed.

A bonus people don't talk about is that Pigeons must be perched in order to defecate due to how tucked in their feet are during flight, So they cannot hit and run you after doing a fly-by. Seagulls on the other hand.......

10:40 I'm a driver for a racing pigeon club. Our longest race is 500 miles. I drive the pigeons 500 miles away, and they fly home. We fly 100, 200, 300, and 500 mile races. They always beat me home 😂

I've got to be honest, it sounds to me like pigeons make better pets than parrots! They're smart, clean, relatively quiet, and they can't rattle off swear words when your 5-year-old nephew visits.

6:31 If you think that pigeon with the banana is dumb, remember the pigeon figured that out faster than a game journalist figured out how to jump over a pillar in the Cuphead tutorial.

Wilbur, our rescue pigeon, was quite a character. He LOVED playing in the tub like he was a duck. He would stand on the toilet seat while you got into the tub, then jump to the edge of the tub while you brought your knee over to the edge. He would hop onto your knee and wait until you slowly lowered the knee into the tub. Then he would spread his wings and float away. If you happened to walk into the bird room with a towel. he would just have a fit because he thought he was going to take a dip! He lived 15 years after he came to us. We still miss him every day. ❤

I really love seeing the citations. A lot of channels don't show the studies they reference or rush through them really fast.

I’m loving the internet’s new wave of pigeon appreciation and debunking misconceptions. At least the side of the internet I spend my time on.

One more important note about the pigeon nests: a lot of the time when you see a photo of a pigeon with like, five sticks? That's actually a "stress nest". That's a female pigeon who needed to lay, but was kicked off of her nest by another pigeon (or had it destroyed in some other way). That's like making fun of someone for using the bathroom in the bushes, then realizing their house caught fire while they were headed to pee- yeah, it's not the most dignified, but the body's gotta do what the body's gotta do and we're just doing our best!

This is the best episode you have ever made…. “It’s bullshit. It’s VARN!” This is THE ABSOLUTE EPITOME of humor!!!!!!!

I started humming "you don't puke in my mouth no more" in public, and I blame you for this!

“I almost died of nerd.”😂

Once I witnessed a pigeon trying to mate a fake owl on top of a gas station. That fake owl wasn't focused on her job.

"Do a little dance, make a little DOVE!" Come on Ze, it was right there!