By XinRu Chew '24
They’re everywhere.
Bobbing their heads back and forth as they scavenged the sidewalk for crumbs, these gray, rumpled, feathered birds are often considered pests and are assigned the derogatory label of “rats with wings”.
Yet, pigeons deserve more than what we give them credit for. They are fascinating creatures and experts at adaptation. While exotic species like the birds of paradise and various types of jungle animals are becoming endangered because of human activities, pigeons are multiplying so rapidly in cities that the Torontonian government is even considering a ban on feeding them.
Similar to the success of their rodent counterpart in the sewers of London, these pigeons have thrived astoundingly in the urban environment, even internationally. And as humans continue their destruction of natural habitats, whether intentional or not, so too does “fitness” in terms of Darwin’s natural selection theory get redefined in unprecedented ways.
But no matter how or what it means to be “fit” evolutionarily, pigeons will unquestionably be one of the cream of the crop with their impressive ability to coexist with humans.
So, how has the definition for fittest been redefined?
Take dolphins and chimpanzees. Both of these mammals are known to be highly intelligent, with complex social networks and creative minds that are exceptional in the animal kingdom. These are advantageous traits for survival. Yet despite that, they’re also both endangered. Although their intellectual powers trump that of a pigeon’s tiny brain, their amazing cognitive abilities have proven woefully inadequate in the face of human destruction in the past few decades. After all, having the ability to employ clever methods to catch fish doesn’t offer any advantages if humans drain the sea of fish first.
Hence, it can be seen that with natural environments reshaping and resources becoming scarce, traits that used to be beneficial are rendered useless, and many species find themselves desperately in need of new traits to survive.
But pigeons couldn’t be more indifferent to this crisis of endangerment. In contrast to dolphins and chimpanzees, pigeons have fewer intellectual capabilities but also a robust population cheerfully surviving on the remains of cookie crumbs and hot dogs left behind by humans.
Unlike their fellow animals, pigeons are well equipped for urban life. Interestingly, though in part due to their biological ingenuity, pigeons have been prepared for coexistence with humans for over five thousand years by civilizations like the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians.
In those days, pigeons were domesticated as a dominant source of meat before poultry came along and became the more popular choice. They were even the first bird recorded to be domesticated by humankind.
After their use as meat became obsolete, pigeons shifted to have recreational value, where bird enthusiasts bred them while others trained them to be race birds. Eventually, passions for them dimmed and many pigeons were released from captivity. What was not expected was that they stayed behind and became one of the most, if not the most, ubiquitous bird in all urban settings.
Though arguably, the pigeon’s success is owing to the purposeful intent of humans to engineer them to live in urban environments, but without some of their biological traits, it is unlikely that pigeons would thrive as they do today.
For example, as cliff dwellers, pigeons are naturally inclined to favor hard surfaces, so they face little obstacles in adapting to cement buildings and paved roads. Moreover, features like ornate facings and the rooftop of buildings nicely mimic the crevices of rocky cliffs for pigeons to perch on.
Another example is their unusual breeding biology. Not only do pigeons breed all year round, they are dedicated parents that take the time to rear their young, which are also called squabs. Even more fascinating is the fact that both parents provide a special milk to feed the squabs—one of only three species of birds known to do so.
This special milk then provides the squabs with the needed protein to mature before getting introduced to the world of human food— another characteristic that sets them apart from most other birds, with their adaptation to this unnatural diet. By providing the milk for the squabs before they can eat solid food, pigeons don’t need additional efforts to hunt for the protein-rich food that their young need.
With their biological traits almost perfect for urban life, coupled with the domestication of their ancestors thousands of years ago, pigeons have become the urban bird we see today.
Although they are often slighted for their mundane looks and ridiculous bobbing of the head, they have an unquestionable place at the top of the animal kingdom when it comes to surviving a world where the artificial is increasingly replacing the natural. It is no wonder that even Charles Darwin chose the humble pigeon to introduce his groundbreaking theory of natural selection.
For nature’s children, the future is a bleak vision. Statistics claimed that ninety-nine percent of all species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct. It is hard to say what the future entails for the remaining one percent. But for pigeons, there is no doubt that they will survive and thrive as the modern survivalist—and one of nature’s greatest triumphs. *
*Note: this is the opinion of the writer based on the research and facts presented throughout the article; however, it has not yet been scientifically proven to be factual.
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