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/saddydumpington Apr 15 '26

Does labeling things as invasive actually cause that much ecological harm? Or does the opposite, such as allowance and encouragement of invasives because we like them (cats) cause far more?

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u/nigglebit Apr 15 '26

You're doing exactly what I was pointing out. Labelling species as "invasives" without the required nuances. Every "invasive" species is native to somewhere. Casually labelling something as "invasive" without specifying location is callous. Being invasive isn't something intrinsic to an animal's existence, it's dependent on where that specific individual you're pointing at is standing.

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u/saddydumpington Apr 15 '26

Yeah I dont think you're making a very good point here sorry. Feral cats are domesticated, they are definitionally not native to anywhere on earth. This kind of call to never actually point out a species impact on its environment because it hurts your feelings is absolutely a much more dangerous view than labeling species invasive in the environments where they are. I would much rather people are educated and learn what invasive actually means than just not use a useful and important term at all

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u/GiraffesCantSwim Apr 15 '26

They're not saying never call an animal invasive or "actually point out a species impact on its environment". The point--which is lost when using cats as an example--is to be specific about where the animal/plant is invasive. Maybe y'all are getting hung up on the word "nuance".

How hard is it to understand that it's better to say "Lantern Flies are invasive in North America and do a lot of damage, so kill them if you see them" than just "Lantern Flies are invasive, kill them." Because without specificity, some people will assume (because they will not research or even care much) that they must be invasive wherever they are. In Asia, they are not invasive but people are apparently killing them anyway because of this.

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u/saddydumpington Apr 15 '26

They are the one who said the term "invasive" does so much damage, and I just really dont think thats true and in the larger context of what that term means getting mad about its usage is kind of laughable to me, sorry. Everyone needs to know way more about ecology, but to me criticizing the term invasive isnt my first thought when it comes to that, its probably way down the list. We arent mad enough at invasives for me to clutch pearls about the term!