By Myra Chen
On Jan. 30, 2024, India released a pigeon after eight months of jail time after suspecting that it was a Chinese spy.
As silly as it may sound, the Indian police was not the only one to fall for the conspiracy theory that pigeons are stealthy government spies. They were also not the first ones to wrongfully detain a pigeon of suspicion of being a secret agent.
Though it was confirmed that the pigeon did, in fact, not have cameras implanted into its eyes, it is not too far from the truth. In the past, pigeons served a purpose — they were reliable messengers that delivered letters or smuggled drugs over 700 miles away. Due to their navigational and natural homing abilities, they were good at their jobs and grew to become a status symbol of wealth and aristocracy. Modern day pigeons, however, lack a crucial role in society.
The streets of New York City are beautiful. The glistening skyscrapers provide a home to a bustling array of citizens. And pigeon feces — about 25 pounds of it per year per pigeon. Yes, they poop a lot. But that is not the reason why the public has named the pigeon among some of the worst: cockroaches and sewer rats. The deep rooted hatred for pigeons may just be a simple case of good ol’ fashioned colonialism.
Humans are a territorial species. We want more land, more space to claim as our own property. On the other hand, pigeons are invasive. Instead of retreating to their dark crevices and staying out of sight like roaches and rats, pigeons stand their ground. They are not afraid to walk where we walk, when we walk. It’s to this that I commend pigeons for their bravery.
As much as they are brave, they are dumb. I’m sure you all have seen pictures of the stray eggs next to two or three twigs. Left to fend for themselves after they were domesticated as messengers, pigeons lack the knowledge of how to properly build their own nests. Combined with scarcity of natural resources in urban areas, pigeon eggs are at the mercy of human benevolence.
From beloved to loathed, the pigeon remains iconic, just for different reasons. Its evolution from domestication to abandonment is one for history books. Who knows, maybe the pigeon will someday be in the limelight again.
