City Pigeons

so lately I’ve been thinking- is it okay to feed city pigeons?

I am referring to pigeons and pigeons only. I am completely against feeding ducks (overcrowding, growth stunting, habituation, loss of flight, deterioration of health, the list goes on of why you should not feed ducks, and either way they are supposed to migrate as a wild bird)

Unlike ducks, city pigeons aren’t really wild. You only see them in cities and they rely on the waste/ scraps that are found in cities.

I understand that what is typically fed to pigeons, bits of bread, is probably not healthy for them, but I would imagine it’s better than eating scraps.

Or is it better to just not feed them at all?

Obviously many cities will discourage feeding, since pigeons damage property and buildings

Asides the aspect of their possibly being more pigeons, are there any other reasons why it would be bad o feed them?

Am I getting this all wrong and feeding them is actually as terrible as it is to feed ducks?

 

We have pigeons around our place, they are disgusting, we actually shoot them to keep the numbers down. I can't imagine feeding them would be any good, just make a huge mess around the area they get fed.

 

I wouldn't feed them as that encourages them to rely on people for food already more than they are and causes more of them to congregate in an area. If they're already feeding off of scraps and then they're getting more food from people, some plump birds are going to be flying around.

 

That also got me thinking:

In Australia camel meat is being promoted to control the numbers of invasive camels, and on the Florida coast spearfishing for invasive lion fish is becoming a sport, as well as being put to the market as a tasty fish.

Do pigeons taste good? Many people consider dove a luxury meat. I’d imagine pigeon would taste similar

Are pigeons damaging biological environments?

In some places pigeons play a role as food for once declining preregrin falcons, yet how far does this biological role stretch?

 

They teach about handling pigeon waste in asbestos abatement licensing classes..
I always refer to the disease you can get from their waste as pigeontosis but believe me it is not good and is easily absorbed through breathing and your eyes and ears !
Nasty ..I know several fish guys /breeders that have pigeon keeping/ breeding in their history ..

 

That also got me thinking:

In Australia camel meat is being promoted to control the numbers of invasive camels, and on the Florida coast spearfishing for invasive lion fish is becoming a sport, as well as being put to the market as a tasty fish.

Do pigeons taste good? Many people consider dove a luxury meat. I’d imagine pigeon would taste similar

Are pigeons damaging biological environments?

In some places pigeons play a role as food for once declining preregrin falcons, yet how far does this biological role stretch?

I had it in curry a few times. I thought I was eating chicken and thought to myself that this is the most delicate and tender chicken I've ever had. So, yes, they do taste good.

City pigeons are still wild pigeons. A while back I read an article where some scientists consider animal intelligence in terms of adaptability, which they rate very high on. I believe they live in every part of the world except . . . you guessed it, Antarctica.

 

Pigeons are a type of dove. Feral pigeons are also called the rock dove/pigeon. So technically, you can eat them. But I imagine they won't taste that good, due go eating human food scraps...

Feeding bread isn't actually that good for them. Similar to ducks. The best thing is to avoid feeding them, they get a pretty balanced diet from human waste.


They very interesting animal to study, especially their behaviours. Had the pleasure of studying feral pigeons for a subject last semester. They pretty fascinating animals

 

I would never eat a city pigeon, that's disguising.

I used to hunt a lot and got dove which tastes pretty good. It's very lean and is easy to overcook and make dry though.

 

More feeding = more Pigeons.

Is that what we need?

What would be the aI'm of such an investment of time and money?

 

I have to agree with Redshark1. I don't see the point. Pigeons are very adaptable, and they obviously thrive in cities. They make quite a mess in some areas, particularly places they like to roost.

I lived (and still commute there regularly) in NYC. Pigeons are everywhere. I don't see many people feeding them. The few that do are usually homeless or elderly. Still, one thing I realized is I've never seen a starving, sick, or even a dead pigeon on the street. They do perfectly fine without our help.

 

Yet nobody is complaining about feeding geese, they are mean they will try to bite your handoff. And I bet you they have tons of diseases on them.

And do not even get started with Seagulls...

 

Yet nobody is complaining about feeding geese, they are mean they will try to bite your handoff. And I bet you they have tons of diseases on them.

I think Canada Geese can be a problem sometimes. They really foul up the ponds and make walking around parks a challenge. I wouldn't call them aggressive, though. You're probably thinking of swans? Those guys can be scary!

 

I think Canada Geese can be a problem sometimes. They really foul up the ponds and make walking around parks a challenge. I wouldn't call them aggressive, though. You're probably thinking of swans? Those guys can be scary!

Surprisingly not, it is pretty hard to come across swans around here. All we have here is TONS of geese, and trust me these things are mean if you do one wrong thing they will bite and run after you.

 

I think Canada Geese can be a problem sometimes. They really foul up the ponds and make walking around parks a challenge. I wouldn't call them aggressive, though. You're probably thinking of swans? Those guys can be scary!

Canada geese will hunt you down like a hissing walking cobra lol they can be really nasty in spring time. Not deadly like a swan can be though. But I know a good handful of people whose bird phobia started from being attacked by a Canada goose lol

If you are going to feed anything, feed them their natural foods. Grass, dandelions, etc. Pick it up and feed it to the ducks and geese. But its not really necessary...

That said, I'm guilty of feeding gulls. Love them. Ive gone fishing and ive tossed them invasive fish ive caught. I don't like to waste lives, invasive or not and I don't think humans can eat round goby...

 

Canada geese will hunt you down like a hissing walking cobra lol they can be really nasty in spring time. Not deadly like a swan can be though. But I know a good handful of people whose bird phobia started from being attacked by a Canada goose lol

If you are going to feed anything, feed them their natural foods. Grass, dandelions, etc. Pick it up and feed it to the ducks and geese. But its not really necessary...

That said, I'm guilty of feeding gulls. Love them. Ive gone fishing and ive tossed them invasive fish ive caught. I don't like to waste lives, invasive or not and I don't think humans can eat round goby...

Of course, I will feed the ducks.
Gulls are really smart... I saw a jolly rancher with a wrapper on it and the Gull took the entire wrapper off and ate the thing whole without eating the wrapper.

 

Yet nobody is complaining about feeding geese, they are mean they will try to bite your handoff. And I bet you they have tons of diseases on them.

And do not even get started with Seagulls...

Lol. I love geese. Not Canada geese though. They're wild animals and really want nothing to do with people. They'll hiss and attack anyone.

I love Chinese geese, Toulouse geese, and other domesticated geese though. When I was in highschool and early college, I babysit my sister and her friends and would just take them to "Goose Lake" to feed the geese for hours. We just bought a few heads of lettuce and handfed them. A bunch of them would crawl into your lap and sit with you as long as you wanted to.

It's kind of sad how they got there though. MOST of them were dumped there. People get their kid goslings for their Easter basket, then unload them at the lake once they realized how big and loud they get. Every year, a few new geese showed up around June/July. But it's already after the geese imprinted on humans.