I'm going to write a speech on pigeons, do you know anything about them: good, bad or ugly?

Answer 1

Okay - here's some of the GOOD things. A: Pigeons have been revered in the Western World since at least 3000 B.C. They were symbols of the Godess (depending on which one was current at the time, Isis, Astarte, etc., and then they became symbols of the Holy Spirit in Christian mythology (yup, "doves" ARE pigeons and vice versa.)

There are MANY different pigeon species, but most people refer to only one when they say "pigeon". That's the common pigeon (Columba livia). This is the one that has been domesticated, used as food, used as messenger -- and carried much information faster than any other method on earth until the invention of the telegraph wire in the 1800's. Pigeons were still used by major armies up till World War II, and were used periodically since by smaller armies and police services around the world. Today, domestic pigeons are bred by tens of thousands of people worldwide: some are bred as race birds; some as acrobats (rollers, tumbler, etc.); some for beauty (Frillbacks, Croppers and Pouters; etc.) some for food: (Carneaux, Kings, etc.) and some for their other flying abilities (Tipplers, Doneks, etc.)

Pigeons can live up to 20 years, the average is more like 12-15 years. They bring lots of joy to many.

There are also many other species of pigeon, ranging in size from those about sparrow sized to those about turkey sized. Fruit pigeons come in colors as brilliant as an parrot.

Street pigeons (feral pigeons)

Answer 2

Here's a few unusual facts:
- They have an elasticeted jaw, which means they can swallow things a lot bigger than you would expect. We have many fruit-eating pigeons at London Zoo, and some that are as big as your average wood pigeon will eat whole grapes very easily.
- When it rains on a pigeon, some species will "wash under their arms". They open one wing at a time and raise it above their head, so that the water falls on the underside of the wing.
- The biggest species of pigeon is the Victoria-Crowned pigeon, which is slightly larger than your average peacock!

Answer 3

Oh, yeah. Farm country. A guy told me how he used to go with his buddy when they were teens to catch pigeons to be used for shoots. They got good money for them, and they weren't hard to catch. They'd roost in empty silos, and the farmers were glad to get rid of them. So one would climb to the top of the silo, grab a pigeon and hook its wings together behind its back. Doesn't hurt the bird, but it can't fly. Then he'd drop it. Now, the wings were out far enough that the bird didn't fall very fast. The one below would catch it, unhook the wings and stuff it in a cage. Totally unharmed. Then they'd take the day's catch to the local farmers' market/auction.

They are also delicious, even though if you're dealing with large numbers of them the breast is about all you have time to deal with. The drumsticks and thighs are like midget chicken wings. I knew a woman who was once visited by an old farmer who said, "Hey, do you like to eat pigeon?" She said, "Sure!" He told her that he had too many pigeons in his barn so if she wanted to come up and catch them, she was welcome. She explained to me later that you go up in the loft, don't make a big fuss, grab one after the other by the head while they're sleeping, and a quick snap of the wrist drops the body into the sack and you toss the head away.

Now, what to do with them. Around here they make potpie, which is like chicken noodle soup but you make a noodle dough, roll it out and cut it into squares. Really crude noodles. And it's more like a stew. So she made a really big mess of pigeon potpie. And she had enough people to feed it to.

One of them came back years later and said to her, "Do you remember that potpie you made for us years ago? That was the best potpie I ever tasted!" She said to me, "I never told them what was in it. I let them think it was chicken." She was a cook, and fed it to an entire elementary school!

Answer 4

I have lived in NY, Japan, and now Warsaw Poland and no matter what they are still bold, invasive, and parasitic no matter what the location. On the other hand, I have come across quite a few people here in Warsaw that raise pigeons for meat and for simply as pets which do not mingle with the ordinary city pigeons. One reason the pigeons are so invasive is because it is regular practice for the people to take their old bread outside everyday and leave it for the birds.

Answer 5

TIP OF THE DAY:

Use Pigeon English :)

Answer 6

I think they are cross-breeds between parakeets that have escaped from homes and rats.

Evidence: They eat mostly human food the same as rats. They walk one foot in front of the other rather than hop like other birds. And . . . (probably out of shame) you never see baby pigeons.

Answer 7

Pigeons poop on people because they can see that humans are worthless. It's because they look down on us. They're awesome!

Answer 8

good: pigeon = dove
bad: "rat with wings" image
ugly: Darwin's pigeon breeding

Answer 9

Include the fact that Pigeon Sh it will make Hair grow on Bald Pates......allegedly.

Answer 10

Why don't you do it on something interesting?
That's like writing about wild dogs while you live in BAJA CALI, which i like to also call Mexico...
so do something has a way of tellin humans the environment is changing, for example find a animal that depends on the Amazon river, and you will find something worth knowing. Or do it on Crocs, i saw a huge one in Africa that was 30-40 feet long, looked prehistoric, yellow in color, its head was prolly double or triple the size of ordinary crocs. and it killed domestic animals (including humans) and left them for dead on his little island. i recently saw it on Animal Planet, and was astonished they were doing a special on it. They tried to catch it with a large cage, it broke the cage took the goat that was inside, and no one has spotted it ever since. Prolly got shot by locals, but yeh pretty cool huh?