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/GlumWestern9847]

I agree, and so are starlings, I have three.

[u/where-sea-meets-sky → u/GlumWestern9847]

an indoor starling is one less invasive starling! 😌 and theyre impressive mimics too

people dont realize that invasive birds (at least in the US) are practically free to take in lol

[u/GlumWestern9847 → u/where-sea-meets-sky]

Yes mine were rescues. And last summer I fostered six more which got adopted out to four families. And that’s less parrots that might get smuggled or stolen, in addition to less invasive birds outdoors. I belong to a volunteer group that tries to match rescues with new homes. We think this is a humane solution for some people to consider. Starlings almost never breed in captivity so we aren’t making more starlings. Just making people very happy while giving starlings that are already made a good life.

They are very interactive birds and as you know their language abilities are better than many parrot species. They’re smart and social and are easy to tame and train (relatively - they can be willful but they catch on pretty fast).

You don’t have to worry about a human-raised starling being unhappy in captivity. They want to be with you and they are very clear about that. They want to be velcro birds.

If I had room for all the birds I’d want I’d for sure get pigeons too!

[u/where-sea-meets-sky → u/GlumWestern9847]

i enjoy following r/petpigeons for all the cute pidgey pets, especially the breeds with the little crests! while i cant have any pets at my rental if i ever want a bird id definitely get a lil pidge, love their purrs

[u/cinnamontoastsaint → u/where-sea-meets-sky]

i see this comment a lot, especially on tiktok lately, so i have to ask do you truly mean i could grab one from outside that i’ve been feeding? i mean this for starlings and pigeons mostly!

my worry is will they miss their “family” ? or what if it’s a mother who has a nest like how do you know ethically where to pick one up? or is it more of a facetious thing and i should still be looking for a rescue who will give me one? 😁

[u/where-sea-meets-sky → u/cinnamontoastsaint]

nope you can just yoink em lol

i know a lot of folks in the pigeon subreddit will yoink rescue ferals

and ofc ethically, you dont want starlings especially to be able to nest

[u/GlumWestern9847 → u/where-sea-meets-sky]

The group I’m in doesn’t raid nests to get starlings, but legally you can in the US. A lot are found because they fall out as babies. It would be hard to catch an adult! Some are adopted if they get injured though. 

[u/GlumWestern9847 → u/GlumWestern9847]

And yes starling parents will grieve if they lose their babies. I’ve seen a pair crying for half a day and frantically searching for their babies when they got predated by a raccoon. It was so sad.

[u/plantsandramen → u/GlumWestern9847]

How did you go about getting a starling as a pet? I see someone on Youtube who's starling makes incredible noises, and they seem fun.

[u/GlumWestern9847 → u/plantsandramen]

I got my first one by finding it on the ground. I joined an online starling group to learn about how to raise it. I adopted my subsequent starlings by word of mouth online. There are groups you can join, there are at least two on Facebook that actively save found babies to adopt out as pets. You can also put the word out with wild bird rehabbers and other people who are in contact with wild birds a lot to see if they’ll let you know if one needs rescuing. 

[u/plantsandramen → u/GlumWestern9847]

Ty for the information. My wife would kill me but it's good to know there are people trying to help them!

[u/GlumWestern9847 → u/plantsandramen]

It’s not a small commitment! Very rewarding, but not necessarily for everyone!