# This thread is about a little pigeon. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648 "2020-01-19T03:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/1 "2020-01-19T03:56:25Z")
No, we’re not swanky. We don’t need fancy hats. Or homing abilities. Just a little pigeon. All I ever wanted was a little pigeon. (Well, there was that time I wanted a little crow. I gave up on that dream.) Oh, little pigeon! Please be mine. (:)) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/2 "2020-01-19T04:05:33Z")
I fear the meowzers might make plans for your pigeony pal. I always wanted to make friends with a flock of ravens. Not to have them in my house, mind, you. But to bring them peanuts and other treats and have them bring me bottle tops and shiny things in return. I just think those relationships are magical. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/3 "2020-01-19T04:08:22Z")
Do you have a specific one in mind? Otherwise, pet stores sometimes offer doves. You may need to buy them in mating pairs, but you’re used to breeding poultry. IIRC, Japanese doves have pretty pink necklaces. I’m not sure you can buy pigeons (rock doves) since they are an invasive alien species. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/4 "2020-01-19T04:09:23Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I fear the meowzers might make plans for your pigeony pal. I do believe you speak the truth. I can but hope they will survive in the same abode. If not, well…umm…there’s always Dork Vader. I’ll drop the Siamese off for an extended playdate. (:)) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/5 "2020-01-19T04:11:59Z")
I miss my crows. They were nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/6 "2020-01-19T04:14:01Z")
**dz** , this is a particular pigeon. Beautiful eyes and a lot of grey on top. I swear he has dimples. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/7 "2020-01-19T04:16:03Z")
Did you ever see my pigeon thread? It was epic, spanning years. They Lived on our balcony in Bangkok. Then we moved back here. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/8 "2020-01-19T04:22:39Z")
Birds are food friends. Put out something pigeons like. For crows, we found slugs were well received. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/9 "2020-01-19T04:59:59Z")
Escargot. Perhaps?? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/10 "2020-01-19T05:56:08Z")
We always had a bird and a dog when I was a kid. No cats till I moved out. One parakeet lived 15 years. That included a period when it had pneumonia after falling into a pot of bacon grease. We had to give it antibiotics and hand feed it, and keep a heating pad on the cage. But it survived. I’ve always wanted a passenger pigeon. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/11 "2020-01-19T06:24:02Z")
My Mother kept a Mynah bird. Dumbest dang bird ever. He could talk. Sounded just like a drunk. He knew curse words. He said those as plain as day. Especially when the pastor visited. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/12 "2020-01-19T06:59:16Z")
I like pigeons. I like doves. But the monotonous coo, coo, coo with no variations in pitch or tempo drives me crazy. I understand other people find it soothing. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/13 "2020-01-19T07:12:41Z")
Awwww! coo-ing. I love my lil’ pigeon even more. (:)) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/14 "2020-01-19T07:54:18Z")
A high school friend who was in charge of the biology lab once found a pigeon who broke her wing. He worked for a vet and managed to set the wing and it healed. He asked me to care for her until she decided to fly away. She was a very affectionate girl. I never realized that it is so easy to tame a wild pigeon. You just hold them in your hands until they stop struggling to get away. It only took about 3 or 4 times of holding her (and hand feeding her). Eventually, I had to return her to the wild and so I took her to my home and let her fly away from my home which was about ten miles from the school. I was amazed to find her back at the school the next day. I had always thought that only “homing pigeons” had that ability. But apparently all pigeons can do that. I wonder if all wild birds have that same ability. Does anyone know? Here is what Wikipedia says: [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=what+kind+of+birds+have+a+homing+ability+like+homing+pigeons%3F](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=what+kind+of+birds+have+a+homing+ability+like+homing+pigeons%3F) What is the difference between a carrier pigeon and a homing pigeon? The carrier pigeon was bred for its beauty and the homing pigeon, for its speed and ability to always return home. The “English Carrier” pigeon was originally, and still is, bred for show. … Today the homing pigeon is primarily used for sport and as a hobby. But pigeon races are still held around the world. It seems to me that Wikipedia is suggesting the carrier pigeon does not have the ability to return home. But it is my experience this is not right. Do any of you have any opinions about this? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/15 "2020-01-19T08:03:13Z")
That same Wikipedia entry also says this: How does a homing pigeon know where to go? Scientists now believe that homing pigeons have both compass and map mechanisms that help them navigate home. The compass mechanism helps them to fly in the right direction, while the map mechanism allows them to compare where they are to where they want to be (home). I have to wonder what kind of testing those scientists have done. I took that pigeon to my house after school during the winter. I had wresting practice and by the time I got home and released her, it was pitch black dark outside. So, I have to wonder what kind of map pigeons can have in their brains when they are released somewhere in the dark. How can they “see” the map in their brains if it is pitch black dark? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/16 "2020-01-19T08:16:31Z")
My lil’pigeon will stay with me. And love me as much as I love him. I will need a name for him. I must ponder this. :::🤔::::: ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/17 "2020-01-19T14:18:00Z")
(:() No lil’ pigeon this morning. **beck** haz a sad ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/18 "2020-01-19T15:07:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > My lil’pigeon will stay with me. And love me as much as I love him. > I will need a name for him. > I must ponder this. > > :::🤔::::: “I will kiss him and love him and squeeze him and call him George.” — the Abominable Snowman in the old Warner Brothers cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/19 "2020-01-19T15:24:59Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “I will kiss him and love him and squeeze him and call him George.” — the Abominable Snowman in the old Warner Brothers cartoons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648/20 "2020-01-19T16:20:41Z")
You don’t want a whole flock of crows in your house. Why, that would just be murder. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-thread-is-about-a-little-pigeon/846648.md?page=2)