Few animals have suffered from bad PR quite like pigeons. While their close relatives, doves, are seen as symbols of love and peace, pigeons have been slapped with the nickname “rats with wings” and treated as nothing more than urban pests. But a now-viral post is challenging that unfair reputation and reminding us why we should have more respect for these birds.
Therapist and coach Thaddeus Patrick recently shared on X, “My friend grew up in New England where they have pigeons. Apparently, they also hate them. He was always saying bad things about pigeons.”
That was until Patrick gave him a quick history lesson—and a new perspective.
“We domesticated pigeons. They are (nearly) all over the world because HUMANS BROUGHT THEM THERE. And, they were more than pets. They carried messages. People raced them. They lived spoiled lives as honored human companions for centuries,” he wrote.
Indeed, pigeons have played an important role in human history for thousands of years. Ancient Romans used them to announce Olympic winners, and Genghis Khan had an entire network of pigeons delivering messages across his empire.
One of the most famous pigeons, Cher Ami, saved nearly 200 American soldiers in World War I by delivering a crucial message despite being injured. For his bravery, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
And it wasn’t just their usefulness that people admired—pigeons were also bred for their beauty.
From Valued Companions to Unwanted Pests
So how did pigeons go from being cherished to being despised? Patrick explained that after we no longer needed pigeons for communication, we “threw them out like trash.”
By then, domestication had stripped pigeons of many survival instincts, making them ill-equipped to live in the wild. Instead, they adapted to city life, where buildings mimic the rocky cliffs they naturally nest in.
But the turning point in their reputation came in the 1960s, when New York City Parks Commissioner Thomas Hoving launched a campaign against them, coining the phrase “rats with wings” and falsely associating them with disease.
Sociologist Colin Jerolmack also points out that our dislike of pigeons may reflect a larger disconnect from nature. In cities, we like to control how nature exists—think of neatly planted trees or well-maintained parks. Pigeons, however, don’t follow those rules. They live alongside us, often in places we don’t want them, crossing the invisible boundary we’ve created between civilization and the wild.
A Reminder to Show a Little More Kindness
Despite everything, pigeons remain trusting of humans—because we bred them to be. “They love us because they were bred by us to feel that way, and yet we hate them,” Patrick wrote.
His post struck a chord with many, with commenters sharing how it changed their perspective:
“I used to be that way, but the more I learned about pigeons, and just growing emotionally mature, I realized that no animal really deserves to be hated.”
Another added, “We forgot they were once our friends. But they didn’t forget.”
While we may not be able to undo the past, we can at least rethink how we see pigeons today. Instead of dismissing them as dirty pests, we can remember that they were once our allies—ones we abandoned but who, despite it all, still trust us.
