r/interesting Jul 14 '26

NATURE Pigeon walks into falcon's nest

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61.5k Upvotes

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3.2k

u/nesnalica Jul 14 '26

the falcon was confused but pretty chill until she really tried to get in there.

108

u/64590949354397548569 Jul 14 '26

The male falcon comes home and he would never believe her.

71

u/EddieLobster Jul 14 '26

Yeah he would, there is a pigeon corpse right outside.

95

u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset Jul 14 '26

apparently there is a longer edit of this video and the pigeon later got away, though not without losing quite a few feathers: https://www.reddit.com/r/HardcoreNature/comments/16qtbdp/pigeon_thought_it_could_just_cosy_up_to_a_falcon/

47

u/Copper_Nanotubes Jul 14 '26

Well thats just embarrassing for everyone involved.

18

u/ExerciseOnly122 Jul 14 '26

Tbf to the falcon, they hunt by dive-bombing their prey and knocking it out or outright killing it through pure kinetic energy. they don't really know how to deal with a perfectly healthy pigeon that is actively trying to escape.

5

u/Ghostbrain77 Jul 15 '26

That explains the look of “Okay well what the fuck do I do now?” While the pigeon is flapping over the edge by a claw

2

u/CaptainTripps82 Jul 17 '26

Well this is embarrassing

5

u/alleecmo Jul 15 '26

"I pluck them when they're dead. I guess I'll pluck this one while it's alive."

Also, "I said GET OUT. And STAY gone."

3

u/Nekochan26 Jul 15 '26

This comment wins the day. 😂

2

u/AdJust6959 Jul 15 '26

That pigeon’s wife will ask, say that again were you drunk or something?

10

u/CrazyAszSpartan Jul 14 '26

This should be pinned. Funny that the uncropped and full video has less views

6

u/DrZein Jul 14 '26

Much better video quality too. This version makes it look like the pigeon just came to get a haircut while hanging upside down and leave

8

u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset Jul 14 '26

to give credit where it’s due, i’m not the one who found it. someone else in this thread did: https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/s/gLXHMC5mNK

6

u/Pretty-Season2307 Jul 14 '26

I'd be surprised if the pigeon lived, despite flying away. If anything other than feathers was on the receiving end of that beak and those talons, pigeon is toast.

7

u/djaleister_ Jul 14 '26

Pigeons are surprisingly resilient. The amount of pigeons I see in NYC hobbling around on one foot or missing other body parts is fairly high.

1

u/Informal_Form_3108 Jul 15 '26

Seriously. I was at Fanueil Hall in Boston last October and there was a pigeon with one leg just gnawing on an Italian sausage it stole from someone sitting near me. I respect the hell out of that.

4

u/matheffect Jul 14 '26
  1. Thank you for posting the original.

  2. What was the falcons plan for ripping feathers off the pigeons butt? "Eventually it won't be able to fly?"

2

u/SatiesUmbrellaCloset Jul 14 '26

lots of other people are saying that falcons usually disable their prey by ramming them in mid-flight, whereupon it becomes much easier to defeather it and then consume it. this falcon obviously didn't have the momentum of already being in flight, so instead it had to go straight to defeathering and hope for the best. it's probably why the pigeon still had enough strength to get away

2

u/Opposite-Funny-9669 Jul 15 '26

i wondered if it was just plucking feathers and then going to drop it to see if it fell to the ground or not. don't fuck around with falcons i guess.

2

u/Double_Belt2331 Jul 15 '26

Love that she walked back into the nest w feathers still in her beak.

2

u/AppropriateCap8891 Jul 16 '26

Damned thing was already plucking it.

2

u/Robyn445 Jul 16 '26

And that's what I've been looking for. Thank you for the update

2

u/rumbakalao Jul 17 '26

I remember seeing this a while ago and the poster said this particular pigeon had already tried this and this was apparently him/her coming back for more I suppose. Survival of the fittest?

1

u/Honest_Possible6192 Jul 15 '26

Yeah, I dunno 🧐 falling off the front porch might not be the same as “getting away”.

1

u/Appropriate-Big75 Jul 18 '26

Thanks for that