When you visit large cities like San Francisco, Chicago or New York, pigeons are a common sight. You鈥檒l find them nesting on window sills, walking on sidewalks and congregating in public parks.
If you don鈥檛 see them in person, the evidence of pigeons will be obvious in the droppings they leave behind, covering once-dignified statues and monuments.
But here in Columbus, you鈥檙e less likely to have pigeons scurrying under your feet or flapping out of your way. At least, that鈥檚 the popular perception.
Adam Uhas wrote into our project to ask, 鈥淲hy doesn鈥檛 Columbus have a pigeon population like other cities?鈥� The question overwhelmingly won our latest
Why Do Pigeons Thrive In Cities?
In my search for an answer, the first stop was the office of , an ornithology professor at The Ohio State University. At first, the question about pigeons in Columbus puzzled him.
鈥淚 tend to notice birds wherever I am when I'm outside, and I frequently see pigeons," Tonra said.
Tonra said there are of two flocks he regularly sees near campus.
Tonra explained that pigeons, as they're commonly referred, are actually a species known as the . The pigeons we see are feral birds, the descendants of domesticated pigeons once kept and bred by humans for their homing abilities as messengers or recreationally for pigeon racing.
That鈥檚 one reason why pigeons today are commonly found in areas populated by humans.
鈥淭hey were selected for by pigeon breeders over many years and handled by humans,鈥� Tonra said, 鈥渟o they just have that predisposition to be comfortable around humans compared to other species.鈥�
Another reason why pigeons are well-adapted to urban life is because of the natural habitat of their undomesticated cousins. Tonra said that rock pigeons naturally nest on rocky cliffs.
鈥淪o if you go somewhere like the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, you can see native pigeons nesting on those cliffs sides,鈥� Tonra said.
Urban environments provide similar crevasses where pigeons can build their nests.
鈥淥ur bridges or buildings provide good habitat for them,鈥� he said.
Humans also provide food for pigeons, either intentionally with bird seed or unintentionally with our waste.
鈥淭hey can do pretty well eating on trash or feed that's put out,鈥� Tonra said.
Also, because of a particular biological adaptation, pigeons don鈥檛 have to be picky about what they eat.
鈥淔rom the resources they ingest, they make this thing we call 'crop milk' and then they feed that milk to their young,鈥� Tonra said. 鈥淭hey don't have to be specific about what they eat to get the right things to feed their young.鈥�
Because of all of these traits, pigeons spread across the country and made homes in nearly every place where a human population resides. According to data from the , pigeons inhabit nearly every region in the United States.
But it's hard to get a definite answer to the question of why there seem to be so many more pigeons in some cities compared to others. I bounced a couple theories off Tonra: Maybe Ohio has more predatory birds that keep the pigeon population in check?
Tonra said that was unlikely. Several birds of prey are known to eat pigeons - including peregrine falcons, which are native to Ohio - but those birds can also be found in big cities.
Perhaps Columbus didn鈥檛 historically have as many hobbyists who raised pigeons? Since pigeons are not migratory and don鈥檛 tend to travel very far from where they are born, that might be a factor.
Tonra said that a city with a long, robust history of pigeon breeding might tend to have more birds, but that it's hard to know for sure. Besides, pigeons live across North America, and Ohio has active pigeon clubs even today.
Is it that cities with bigger buildings provide more nesting areas for pigeons? Columbus, after all, has fewer skyscrapers than New York or Chicago - and every window ledge is another possible nook for a pigeon to call home. Columbus is also more spread out compared to comparably-populated urban areas.
According to Tonra, perhaps the best indicator of why some cities attract more pigeons comes down to density. The higher the human density, the higher the pigeon density.
"In a place like Manhattan, the variety of places for them to nest is so much larger, and there's more trash to feed on," Tonra said.
More people per square mile means more structures and infrastructure for pigeons to live in, as well as more food - whether bird seed or french fries - to peck at. Tonra said population density is probably not the only factor at play in Columbus, but it is significant.
Pigeon Quest
After learning so much about pigeons, it was time to head out and see if I could spot one in the 鈥渨ild.鈥� To join my quest, I enlisted the help of Bill Heck, a veteran birder who's on the board of directors for the National Audubon Society. Heck is also a past president of the
Our first stop was Waterman Farm, an Ohio State University Agriculture facility just a couple miles west of campus. Both Heck and Tonra observed a flock of pigeons in that area before.
鈥淎 lot of us think of pigeons as city birds,鈥� Heck said, adding that pigeons find homes on farms as well. 鈥淭hey eat agricultural waste products, typically grain that's been spilled. So there鈥檚 always some of that food supply and the pigeons hang out there."
We knew that a flock of pigeons resided at the Ohio State farm, but couldn鈥檛 locate them. I was beginning to wonder if we really might not see any pigeons on our trip, or maybe if the recent Polar Vortex had killed off some flocks.
We headed downtown, and minutes after we started driving south on Route 315, we spotted a couple dozen pigeons on light posts and wires along the roadway.
Hoping to get a closer look, we parked in the Short North to explore city streets and Goodale Park.
鈥淧igeons, unlike a lot of birds, don't like trees,鈥� Heck told me.
Parks can attract pigeons because of trash, and because people often go to parks to feed birds. We weren鈥檛 able to see any pigeons up close, but we did see several dozen birds on the powerlines beyond I-670.
Before we ended our trip, Heck wanted to head back to Waterman Farm to see if we鈥檇 have better luck. Sure enough, we quickly spotted 40 or 50 pigeons perched on the wires along Lane Ave.
Pigeons are not the most exciting species for avid birders, but Heck said he enjoyed our excursion.
鈥淭his has been an educational trip for me,鈥� he said.
Though pigeons don鈥檛 seem to be as common in Columbus as other cities, they are here if you know where to look.
鈥淚f you really want to see pigeons just go downtown,鈥� Heck said. 鈥淒rive down 315 and look on the wires.鈥�
Do you have questions about the animals or nature around Columbus? Ask us below and we may investigate as part of our series.
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