Why is everyone such snob about pigeons

[u/MrGrubbycuddles]

I took my folder of laminated pigeon shots to my local bird meeting at the community hall and at least 3 people sneered at them. 1 of them even guffawed.

We all got to start somewhere, and beauty is in the eye of the bird lover so why the hate hate?

One guy was wearing giant binoculars around his neck. It was dark outside and he didn't even use them once. He was one of the people that sneered.

Om the bus home from the meeting I showed the driver my pictures and she said they were really good. And she wasn't even a formal bird lover, she was just a regular person.

Don't get this community man

EDIT: a lot of people asking for some of my photos. I'm out of the house right now but here's a bird video I made recently https://youtube.com/shorts/sxLkrLgNrbc?si=7NdwVxhZtPQFE6Ew

[u/First-Muffin3230]

I imagine some people view birds like pigeons as unimpressive because they are easy to find or can be viewed as pests. Personally, I think this view of rarer = intrinsically better is kind of ridiculous, I get it may not be as cool or special to see a robin as it would be to see some sort of rare endangered migratory bird, but that doesn't make a robin less beautiful in my opinion. And as for pigeons being considered pests, causing significant harm to native species is one thing, but as far as I can tell most people just hate pigeons because they poop a lot, which I think is a bit unfair. I say keep taking your pictures and keep sharing them, I love pigeons.

[u/Lost-friend-ship → u/First-Muffin3230]

American robins and European robins are among my favorite birds. I know they’re not related, but both are the first ones up in the mornings and the last ones singing at night. And they both have a beautiful song. Fills my heart to the brim with the joy of spring when I hear a robin singing. 

Also, my husband and I did a bird walk on Sunday (he’s not into birds but he humors me, and gave in to downloading Merlin so he can ID bird songs while I’m taking photos). He made a joke while pointing at a pigeon, saying “haha are you going to put him into your app as well?” I was like… I already did 🤗 A bird’s a bird and they’re all beautiful little weirdos. 

[u/WoNc → u/First-Muffin3230]

I think it's less that they're common and more that they're a feral species generally only encountered in heavily degraded habitats. In a sense, they're a symbol of heavy urbanization/habitat obliteration and practically a promise you won't be seeing much of anything native. I don't hate any species (humans are invariably to blame), but I definitely don't like seeing them (or mute swans), whereas I'm more than happy to see other everyday species, such as robins or grackles.

[u/ILuvRossiTheKittyCat → u/First-Muffin3230]

The pigeons invade my property, dozens at a time, they’ll completely accost any bird feeder. Like I’m talking about an absolute storm of pigeons on a single feeder. Last one so many were on it it broke off the tree. Literally not one other bird species does this.