pigeons taking the subway

[badbird]

i stumbled upon this funny article

http://solo2.abac.com/themole/tubeanimals.html

[pdpbison]

Very interesting, and, well, some of it may be true, too!

Phil
Las Vegas

[Anarrowescape]

wow i have been to london but didn't see any pigeons in the tube wish i did it would have been so funny lol

[badbird]

i often see pigeons in the subway of chicago. not on the trains per se but the platforms. i've seen them go down there too. they seem to know what stairs are. they swoop down from the sky and fly right down the stair well and buzz over to the second stairwell and voila they are searching for 'table scraps' on the platform. i'm sure at some point one has been in a cta car. maybe they are working class pigeons and work in a high rise downtown and live in a cute little 2 flat uptown.

[kittypaws]

I have seen pigeons on the tube. In fact the first time I saw one, I panicked as the door closed at Acton Town - but he seemed Ok, pecking at the floor and yes when we got to the next station and the doors opened, out he flew. Also at tube terminus's ( end of the line) where a tube is waiting to go but has the doors open, you see pigeons get on, have a look around, hop off and walk up to the next doorway hop on , look around and get off again ( looking for food I guess) but they always seem to know when the doors are going to close because 9 times out of ten they get off seconds before that happens. They are such clever birds.

I have seen mice and rats too in between the tube tracks and also on mainline ( overland) rain tracks, in fact if I catch a train especially at night, I always look for a rat or a mouse because it well, give you something to look at whilst waiting for the train. They must make a living down there.

As for the articles on the website, some good, some not so goo, some misinformed me thinks but on the whole very interesting!!

Tania

[Garye]

I think I read of a story here in the US where a pigeon hopped a ride on a subway. Got off too at its stop. I'm really beginning to think these birds are catching on to human behavior and utilizing it for themselves. They might as well. It saves time.

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Garye

I'm really beginning to think these birds are catching on to human behavior and utilizing it for themselves. They might as well. It saves time.

Hi Garye,

They (homing pigeons) have already proved to have human behavior when they fly. They look for simplest ways to go home to conserve energy and what is easiest. They are very human-like where they turn off using certain landmarks they remember.

[Garye]

You know, I believe this too. Because one morning as I was headed to work, I saw a flock of pigeons on top of a chimney and then they took off after me. They followed the road like I did and they were behind me for a while but then they shot out in front of me like I was going backwards. They were so fast! Anyways, when I finally caught up to them with my car (no street lights to stop me) they were just landing in the parking lot, ready and waiting. I was at least going 40 mph and they were behind me when we started our "race" but they beat me! They had followed the road all along the way. They really are unbelievable. And these were just ferals - out of shape, fat, roosting by day all day. I can only imagine how fast the racing pigeons go.

But yeah, they've copied us in so many ways.

[Eriel]

I don't know why people find it hard to believe pigeons are inteligent enough to take a train, have you seen some of the muppets that manage to get themselves home? Pigeons took messages across the front in the war and can find home after being let out hundreds of miles away from a place they have been, they are amazing!

[Victor]

Since childhood, I always had this facination with pigeons, and knew in later years about the military carrier pigeons, but not until recent years when ONE pigeon dawned our doorstep hurt and looking for help, did I really bother to do research on pigeons. It all started with the medical help information, and curiosity drew me to read more and more about these facinating creatures. I think it's just that people are just unaware of them, and believe me I try to incorporate the topic whenever possible!

Oh, by the way Eriel, welcome to pigeon.com! It is nice to see a new member.