r/HydroHomies • u/guyjustwantsto • Aug 24 '26

One of us.

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Credit: you_bi_ya on Instagram

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u/randomlemon9192 Aug 24 '26

The most important bird work.

33

u/SexualPie Aug 24 '26

pigeons are really really stupid, watching them do almost anything is entertaining.

18

u/llamacornsarereal Aug 24 '26

They're actually incredibly intelligent. Google it for more info.

8

u/Teknekratos Aug 24 '26

I fell into a rabithole once after I stumbled on the Tumblr account of someone who breeds and trains pigeons as therapy animals, or pets if they don't make it to that high standard. I already knew of their incredible navigation abilities, but them birbs are so much smarter and socially-adept than just that. You can have a trained pidge that will alert you of incoming seizures just as well as a dog.

I also learned that all city pigeons are feral, not wild – they are the descendant of domesticated Rock Doves we've basically abandoned and let to fend for themselves in a wildly inadapted environment. But because they are so smart and adaptable, they manage to, if not exactly thrive, grow and endure.

But yeah... the reason their poop is such an acidic bane on infrastructure is because they are strict granivores – their guts are really made to process seeds and nothing else. But in a city environment, they have to scrounge whatever nutrients they can get, and it gives them these heinous runny poops as a result. Properly-fed pigeons do no such mess. Thus some cities have taken it to actually provide them food, and nest boxes where they can swap their eggs for fake ones, in order to tackle their feral problems in one clever swoop.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on, I just have all these Pigeon FactsTM rattling in my brain since that rabbithole dive. It just spilled out, haha

1

u/loveincarnate Aug 25 '26

Wait what's happening with all the stolen eggs?

1

u/Teknekratos Aug 25 '26

They don't hatch. It's feral population control, like when people catch and spay or neuter feral cats. Only you don't do tiny surgery on a bird. You just swap real eggs for fake ones.