Best of Friends/Worst of Enemies - People and Pigeons

Best of Friends/Worst of Enemies - People and Pigeons

Domesticated long before chickens or geese, the wild rock dove or pigeon was once incredibly useful to humans but is now considered a hated pest, causing untold damage to our towns and cities. This documentary examines what can be done to control this clever but very prolific bird.

The pigeon has gone from being an incredibly useful animal to a hated pest. But those who think only of street pigeons when they hear the topic mentioned are well off the mark: there are actually more than 300 different species of pigeon and dove, with some 500 million individuals spread across almost all the continents. But it is only the wild rock dove that has a shared history with human beings. And this started around 5000 years ago. These birds were domesticated long before chickens or geese. But now that we no longer have any use for them as messengers or producers of food and fertilizer, these prolific birds have conquered our towns and cities and are causing millions of euro worth of damage. Most defensive measures have seen little long-term success. Only one thing could possible be used to rein in these clever, but ultimately comfortable birds: pigeons have a very pronounced sense of family and flock, they want their own home and enjoy it when food is readily available. This is used not only by breeders, but also by the feral birds themselves: the old dovecotes appear to be making a comeback!