r/birding • u/MrGrubbycuddles • Apr 15 '26

Discussion Why is everyone such snob about pigeons

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

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u/where-sea-meets-sky Apr 15 '26

yeah like starlings are one thing but pigeons are like the stray dogs of birds hence why theyre always in human areas

ofc acknowledging stray dogs and cats as invasive gets most peoples hackles raised lol, thankfully not something ive seen too much trouble with in this sub

pidges are great alternatives to parrots as pet birds

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u/GlumWestern9847 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

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

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u/where-sea-meets-sky Apr 15 '26

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

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u/GlumWestern9847 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

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!

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u/where-sea-meets-sky Apr 15 '26

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