r/interesting • u/I-T-Y • Jul 14 '26

NATURE Pigeon walks into falcon's nest

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u/mamut2000 Jul 14 '26

what was the plan there?

143

u/Zestyclose-Smell-305 Jul 14 '26

Suicide

199

u/tomatotomato Jul 14 '26

Suicide by falcon. A common and sad theme in pigeon community.

123

u/Pristine_Currency_77 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

In actuality it’s because (rock) pigeons are actually descendent from abandoned doves (why we don’t release them anymore) and have zero survival instincts because they’re literally domesticated.

So they’re invasive and have 0 defense against predators. It’s why you can get so close to them compared to any other bird.

Just like feral cats, an ecological disaster and tragedy created by us. I always feel like we as a society abandoned them once they were no longer white and pure in our eyes.

Edit: this applies to rock pigeons, not all pigeon species.

98

u/Theraimbownerd Jul 14 '26

While this is true for rock pigeons, the one in the video is a wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) which is and always has been a wild bird. It's possible that the one in the video was born in captivity, but they aren't a feral species.

26

u/Pristine_Currency_77 Jul 14 '26

Nice! Thanks for the clarification! ❤️

2

u/lpmiller Jul 14 '26

I mean, it's ok to just suggest maybe he wasn't the brightest one in his nest. Maybe he had a drinking problem. I mean, Robert Downy Jr did this, and wasn't biatched for it. Poor pigeon. Was really hoping he'd get his life back on track too.

2

u/rtbradford Jul 14 '26

It’s possible it was born in captivity. It’s also possible it’s just an incredibly stupid pigeon.

13

u/Creatret Jul 14 '26

There's plenty of wild pigeon species.

4

u/jdm219 Jul 14 '26

Bro thinks they were all created in the lab by Yakub.

2

u/Uncle_Moti Jul 14 '26

Wow…Yakub reference (?). Never thought I’d see the day.

1

u/figwithbigtits Jul 14 '26

Including rock pigeons.

5

u/DrZein Jul 14 '26

The reason we can get so close to them is because they’re not scared of us and have decades of reinforcement that they can walk around close to us and we won’t harm them. It has nothing to do with them not having defense against predators, they can literally fly away if they want

2

u/figwithbigtits Jul 14 '26

Feral pigeons you mean. Rock doves are a real native species, not a product of domestication.

2

u/obeytheturtles Jul 14 '26

Pigeons aren't really an ecological disaster. I don't think they have a serious impact on much, other than being a food source for hawks and racoons.

1

u/santagoo Jul 14 '26

We abandoned them not because of color but because mail courier pigeons were no longer useful since mail postage became a thing.

1

u/Machievelliearoni Jul 14 '26

Sadly, also rock lobsters.

1

u/ehc84 Jul 14 '26

Just a whole bunch of confidently incorrect going on here. Columbia Iivia is the wild version of the rock dove. Columbia Iivia Domestica is the domesticated subspecies that came about after 1000s of years of selective breeding. There are over 300 different breeds of the domesticated pigeon. While escaped domesticated pigeons over the millenia are the origin of feral pigeons, these groups have constantly been breeding with each other as well as interbreding with actual wild rock doves. Saying that they have no survival instincts because they were domesticated at one point is ridiculous. The majority of the domesticated pigeons are from feral breeding populations.

1

u/P_A_W_S_TTG Jul 14 '26

I used to know someone who would leave pepto bismal out on the front porch just to lower the local pigeon population.

1

u/HamasKilledShaniLouk Jul 14 '26

Weird lean towards racism at the end there...

1

u/Successful_Moment_91 Jul 14 '26

There was female dove that hung around our backyard all summer and was still around by fall and was cold and hungry so my parent just walked over and picked her up and put her in a large cage we had for quail previously

We got her a husband from the pet store and they had babies by spring

1

u/_MrJamesBomb Jul 14 '26

Natural selection will change that over time. That's the consequence in here.

1

u/Cody-512 Jul 15 '26

We always call them rock doves where I’m from since they’re not true pigeons. I guess that’s why they started calling them that in my part of the world. We also don’t have them all over the place here like they do in a lot of places in the US

1

u/Total_Geologist9412 Jul 15 '26

In Az there are "Rock Dove" they look like exactly like little miniature morning dove and are protected.

1

u/HawocX Jul 15 '26

Not saying this isn't generally true, but there are many originally wild city birds that you can get as close to as pigeons. They all have evolutionary pressure (and learned habits) towards being just wary enough of humans. Where I live the wild ducks will take food from your hand, while the pigeons stay further away.

1

u/ShaggyOfMoebius Jul 15 '26

Seems like the cat problem could fix the pigeon problem pretty quick…

Just gonna need a wolf problem to work out that cat problem after…

Then we should be good, nothing left to worry about.