Pigeons in the city

When it comes to animals in the city, pigeons rarely find appreciative mention, despite or perhaps because they are so present. The bad reputation of pigeons pushes the actual nature of these intelligent, social and very adaptable birds into the background.

Pigeons in the city

City pigeons are not wild animals, but feral pets. They are descendants of domestic, wedding or racing pigeons that have been abandoned or have strayed during the rigors of a racing flight. Therefore, these domesticated animals seek proximity to us humans. For the niche breeders, urban agglomerations have now become the new home, as they never had a natural habitat.

But cities also harbor many dangers: For example, the installation of nets and spikes to disturb their resting and nesting places, which is contrary to animal welfare, often spells doom for pigeons - many pigeons die as a result of these measures. Unlike wild birds, seasons, food scarcity and population density have no effect on the reproduction of urban pigeons, which are forced by breeding to lay eggs all year round. Lack of nesting opportunities therefore leads to stress and to egg binding, which means that the pigeon cannot lay its eggs and inflammation develops in the oviduct. The pigeon's species-appropriate diet includes seeds, legumes and various grains - a food spectrum that is not found in cities. In order to provide for themselves and their young, they rely on food scraps or selective feeding with species-appropriate food. The lack of this kind of food results in the animals getting ill, their droppings becoming unsightly, or them and their chicks starving to death. In addition, they must walk miles to scour the ground for crumbs in search of edibles. Garbage lying around, such as threads, dental floss and loose hairs that wrap themselves around the toes in the process, very often causes strangulation and thus mutilation of the feet.

Misconceptions about the supposed harmfulness of excrement and the transmission of diseases have contributed to the negative reputation of urban pigeons for years. According to a study by the Technical University of Darmstadt, the average pH of pigeon droppings is in the neutral range and thus does not attack surfaces. Likewise, an acute risk of disease transmission by pigeons has been refuted by the Robert Koch Institute.
Under good conditions, the animals can reach an age of over 20 years. Pigeons living in the city, on the other hand, live no more than two to three years.

How to help?

As an animal welfare solution, supervised pigeon lofts have proven to offer them protection. There, the pigeons are fed appropriately, receive medical care and, for population control, their eggs are regularly exchanged for dummies, which are incubated by the pigeons until they give up the clutch. An example of this is the city of Augsburg, which has set up managed pigeon lofts and towers at many locations within the city with dense pigeon populations. In Berlin, there are very few comparable projects to date. They are dependent on every support, because the majority of the pigeon protection work weighs on the shoulders of voluntarily engaged persons and associations, which take care of the man-made animal protection problem. According to estimates, around 50 pigeon houses are needed in Berlin so that the animals can be taken off the streets and their suffering minimized.
Suggestions for locations for such a pigeon loft can be directed to the Senate. In the case of caged animals behind nets or in roof trusses, the veterinary office or the fire department can be contacted. Furthermore, a pigeon that is sitting on the ground and does not fly away when approached needs help. Even a spirited grab and a cloth bag for transport are enough to protect weakened pigeons from predators, cars and other dangers. The next step should be to contact animal welfare or city pigeon associations, which are often represented in social networks. Through this initial contact, the feathered patients are either placed in a private foster home or with veterinarians who know birds.