When I was teaching psychology at the City College of New York, I created an undergraduate course on animal behavior. I soon discovered that my students hadn’t paid much attention to the various species around them.
On the first day of each semester, I asked them to guess how many animals they would see on a 40-minute walk around the campus. They typically estimated five or six. When we went outdoors and took our stroll, they were surprised to count dozens of nonhuman animals, including numerous squirrels, sparrows, seagulls, and pigeons.
I gave my students a few assignments that might raise their awareness of animal life. For example, I instructed them to look at pigeons in a park and then write a one-page paper on the question, Do all pigeons look the same?
Many students wrote that they initially thought that the answer was yes, that all pigeons have the same appearance. But when they actually looked at the pigeons, they were struck by wide variations in their coloring.
Why hadn’t my students paid more attention to the animals before they took my course? It is possible that their fast-paced city environment played a role. It might have limited their time for patient observation. Perhaps students in more rural settings are more attentive. But I suspect that the basic explanation is broader, that it has to do with the way the U.S. and other Western societies shape people’s views.
Initially, children marvel at animals and spend long stretches of time watching them. But as children grow up, Western societies get them to view nonhuman animals as vastly inferior to humans. They come to see the animals around them as too unimportant to observe and learn about.
True, there are exceptions. In particular, adults cherish their pets and note their special qualities. But in general, they don’t place a high value on the animals in their lives, such as the ants, beetles, and crows in their yards, or the cows, pigs, and chickens that end up on their plates.
Pigeons, which my classes studied in some depth, are among the least-valued birds. Woody Allen famously called them “rats with wings.” One of my colleagues, a psychologist who performed lab experiments on them, told me that it’s fine to confine them to cages because their lives are so empty. Even gangsters express their contempt, using the term “pigeon” (short for “stool pigeon”) to refer to a snitch.
One afternoon I learned about attitudes toward pigeons through a troubling experience. I saw an S.U.V. emerge from New York City’s Central Park carrying several crates of the birds. I had heard about pigeon theft, so when the two men in the vehicle pulled over to adjust the crates, I confronted them.
“Where did you get the pigeons?” I asked. They didn’t have a ready answer.
I tried to engage them in conversation long enough to spot a police car, but they didn’t stick around. They just shouted, “F__ you,” and almost ran me over as they sped away.
I was able to write down part of their S.U.V.’s license plate and went to the nearby police precinct. “Those pigeons will be saved yet,” I thought.
But the desk officer brushed me aside. “We don’t deal with pigeons,” he said. A man standing beside the officer added his own advice: “Come back when you have something important.”
When my students and I read about pigeons, we found that they possess admirable traits. These traits are present in a variety of breeds, including the common street pigeon (sometimes called a feral pigeon or rock dove). Here are some of their special qualities.
Pigeons are fast. Common pigeons can fly 40 to 50 miles per hour. Some who have been selectively bred and trained have been clocked at over 90 miles per hour.
They possess a homing instinct that enables them to return to their original residence even if it is hundreds of miles away.
People who place a high value on marriage will admire their lasting monogamous bonds. When they have eggs, the male and female take turns sitting on them.
Pigeons have demonstrated amazing courage. A prime example is Cher Ami (which means “dear friend” in French). He was a small bird who carried messages for U.S. soldiers in France during World War I.
Cher Ami served an Army unit known as the Lost Battalion. The soldiers ventured too far into the forest and were under German assault. Making matters worse, U.S. troops inadvertently began to fire on them. To stop this bombardment, the battalion needed to get a message to the U.S. base, but the distance was too far for radio contact. So the battalion turned to its pigeons. With messages attached to their legs, the pigeons attempted to follow their homing instinct and fly to the base.
But the Germans gunned down each pigeon that was sent into the air. Only Cher Ami was left. The little bird flew up, but he, too, was shot and fell to the ground.
The soldiers gave up all hope. They believed they would all die. Then, remarkably, Cher Ami soared again. He was shot in a leg, an eye, and his chest, but he somehow made it to headquarters, which sent troops to the rescue.
For his bravery, the French government awarded Cher Ami the Croix de Guerre. His body is on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
Many people dislike pigeons because they have heard that they transmit diseases to humans. But the New York City Health Department and other public agencies have found that these risks are small.
Teaching my classes on animal behavior, I found that the more I learned about animals, the more positive my views of them became. This was very true in the case of pigeons.
Bill Crain is a retired psychology professor and a part-time East Hampton resident. A co-founder of Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary in Poughquag, N.Y., he is the author of “Animal Stories: Lives at a Farm Sanctuary.”