# Why don't we eat pigeons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 4, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782 "2026-05-04T14:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/81 "2026-05-05T12:48:20Z")
Decades ago during my time in Saudi Arabia, I was occasionally fortunate enough to be invited to a social event that featured a whole roasted goat that had been stuffed with rice, dates, herbs and spices, and buried in a pit fire similar to Hawaiian pig roasts. Guests served themselves, we called it a “goat grab.” The meat was succulent, tender, moist, and absolutely delicious. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/82 "2026-05-05T12:51:32Z")
Cows emit liquid shit, too. In big sloppy puddles. If you want to be a vegetarian to avoid shit, go for it. But there’s nothing special about pigeons and shit. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/83 "2026-05-05T12:54:27Z")
I now realize that my favorite feature of cows is that they don’t fly. 🤪🐮 🕊🐂 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/84 "2026-05-05T13:36:01Z")
I’ve had wood pigeon whenever I have found it on a menu (usually in Ireland). It’s a succulent dark meat. I have looked up pictures of rock pigeons and they are almost identical to the winged rats of the city. I’d have no aversion to consuming one of those. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/85 "2026-05-05T14:53:45Z")
_nostalgically_ This Sunday you’ll see my sweetheart and me as we poison the pigeons in the park. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/86 "2026-05-05T15:43:41Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I have looked up pictures of rock pigeons and they are almost identical to the winged rats of the city. That’s because [they are the same thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_dove). Just our city varieties can be a bit more varied and colorful because they are essentially descended from escaped pets. [Wood pigeons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_wood_pigeon) are close relatives. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/87 "2026-05-05T15:48:10Z")
You know what they say happens when pigs fly? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/88 "2026-05-05T15:49:52Z")
I remember an episode of Northern Exposure where they invited Dr. Fleischman on a game bird hunt. He shot one but his medical training took over and he tried mightily to save it. 😂 …He ended up at a dinner featuring the roasted birds, and he ate his partridge or whatever it was, was told to beware of the shot (pellets) in the flesh. … Me, I like goat milk. Some is a little goaty, some isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/89 "2026-05-05T15:51:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You know what they say happens when pigs fly? “There’ll be pork in the treetops tonight!” (Katharine Hepburn, in _The Lion in Winter_.) ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/90 "2026-05-05T16:05:10Z")
I understood goat milk was recommended for people who had lactose problems ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/91 "2026-05-05T16:06:47Z")
Trees will be under heavy selection pressure to grow stouter limbs. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/92 "2026-05-05T16:25:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Cf. the [1940 Disney song “Hi Diddle Dee Dee (an actor’s life for me)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3iHi-24nWA): Or the cliche political promise, _A chicken in every pot._ ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/93 "2026-05-05T16:32:14Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > The eggs from chickens who live on bugs and worms lay much better tasting eggs. Completely concur. Although AIUI, even free-range chickens are supposed to have specialized chicken feed (whether a homemade mash of some kind or commercial feed) as a large part of their diet. Forage by itself will not support the dietary needs of modern poultry breeds the way it does for their ancestors the wild junglefowl. I think free-range poultry meat is more flavorful than the industrially-farmed kind, too. Irrespective of its being a less miserably torturous life for the chickens themselves, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/94 "2026-05-05T16:32:53Z")
Which is exactly why we don’t eat pigeons anymore. (Was on my way to refer to this myself.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/95 "2026-05-05T16:37:53Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I think free-range poultry meat is more flavorful than the industrially-farmed kind, too. Irrespective of its being a less miserably torturous life for the chickens themselves, of course I totally agree. Although it’s also tougher than battery-raised chickens. I buy it all summer long. For a substantial premium over supermarket chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/96 "2026-05-05T16:41:34Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > I remember an episode of Northern Exposure where they invited Dr. Fleischman on a game bird hunt. He shot one but his medical training took over and he tried mightily to save it. 😂 Mitchell and Webb did the same thing in reverse: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XnLVQylARRQ/hqdefault.jpg "That Mitchell & Webb Look - Animal Clinic [HQ]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnLVQylARRQ) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/97 "2026-05-05T16:46:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Cows emit liquid shit, too. In big sloppy puddles. Yup, much more so than other herbivores like horses, sheep and goats, or omnivores like pigs and dogs (or humans for that matter). Apparently the specialized digestive structure of cows makes it less important to extract water from intestinal contents before excreting to the extent that most of the rest of us do. Bird droppings, on the other hand, are liquid because birds have only a single excretory channel (cloaca) to expel both liquid and solid waste, unlike the separated urine and feces of mammals. And birds need to dump waste frequently and efficiently to save weight for flight. (Thinking about it, @wolfpup’s aversion to “liquid shit” is simply ignoring the fact that the animals he **does** eat also emit at least as much liquid waste as solid waste. Livestock piss is all over the place in the vicinity of livestock. But of course, the non-bird ones don’t fly and spread their waste on people’s cars or statues. Since I tend not to lick cars or statues as part of my carnivorous activities, I don’t quite get why the existence of bird droppings would turn somebody off from eating birds. However, aversions are irrational by nature and _de gustibus non est disputandum_, so never mind!) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/98 "2026-05-05T17:35:14Z")
Anyone who’s ever disassembled an animal can tell you that keeping the shit _inside_ the intestines as you separate the edibles from the innards is really important. Whether the shit is liquid end to end, or only liquid up by the stomach and more solidified down towards the exit, if you let the shit outta the bag, you’ve got a lot of spoiled meat on your hands. And probably shit on your hands too. Conversely, if you keep the shit inside the intestine, you don’t worry about what consistency it is. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/99 "2026-05-05T18:10:16Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > (Thinking about it, @wolfpup’s aversion to “liquid shit” is simply ignoring the fact that the animals he **does** eat also emit at least as much liquid waste as solid waste. Livestock piss is all over the place in the vicinity of livestock. I guess part of my problem is that birds don’t urinate – the goopy stuff that they’re constantly emitting is a mix of both solid and liquid waste. And I inevitably associate it with fowl. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Anyone who’s ever disassembled an animal can tell you that keeping the shit _inside_ the intestines as you separate the edibles from the innards is really important. Reminds me of a gem from the Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Collection, analogizing the “vein” in a shrimp with an ex-lover: 😁 > She resolved to end the love affair with Ramon tonight . . . summarily, like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp’s tail . . . though the term “love affair” now struck her as a ridiculous euphemism . . . not unlike “sand vein,” which is after all an intestine, not a vein . . . and that tarry substance inside certainly isn’t sand . . . and that brought her back to Ramon. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782/100 "2026-05-05T18:10:55Z")
Very very important in butchery. No poopy on the the meat. If your quarry is gut shot you’re not gonna get anything to eat from that animal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-we-eat-pigeons/1029782.md?page=6)