Pidge is a New York City It Girl. Over 50,000 followers tune into her TikTok to learn her beauty routine or see her posing on the subway. She’s invited to book launches, where she mingles with other influencers. She loves statement bags: her newest is brat green.
Oh, and Pidge is short for Pidgey, as in pigeon – she’s a bird.
Pidgey has lived a true rags-to-riches story. Abby Jardine, a fashion product developer, found her wounded on the street outside her apartment in June of 2023. “She was tucked up where the trash is,” Jardine, 27, said. “I decided to take her in.”
Not as easy as it sounds: one man walking by tried to sic his dog on Pidge, which scared her. She ran across the block, nearly getting hit by a car. But Jardine eventually coaxed Pidge inside and set her up in a squab dream home: a cage that connects to a balcony, so she can take in the city views, plus free range of the house, including a little perch near her owner’s bed.
Pidge is just one of many pigeon-fluencers responsible for the surprising comeback of a much-hated bird. There’s Merlot, a brown modena variety from Australia, who’s known for his marching gait and the inspirational quotes his owner uses to caption his Instagram posts. (“Get up and get stompin’!”) Penny, from the UK, went viral after a woman named Hannah Hall found her outside a pub. Penny died last year, but Hall went on to start Penny’s Pigeon Aid, a group that advocates for the birds.
In the United States, the northern California-based group Palomacy rescues lost, injured or displaced pigeons and doves, as does the Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue, which currently offers over 100 for adoption, with names such as Banter, Snowplow and Bon Jovi. The rescue groups are also active on social media.
Vermin, pests, rats with wings: pigeons don’t have the best reputation. Citygoers associate them with urban grit, grime and errant bathroom breaks that can ruin an outfit in the blink of an eye. And unlike photogenic Pidgey, street pigeons look haggard – not exactly camera-ready.
It wasn’t always this way. For centuries, pigeons occupied a perch in the upper echelons of society. Just before the French Revolution, owning one was seen as a status symbol, and pigeons lived in ornate cages. Charles Darwin raised pigeons, as did Nikola Tesla, a lifelong bachelor who once admitted to falling in love with one particularly beautiful white bird. The news service Reuters used carrier pigeons to deliver news before the telegraph was invented in 1844, rendering messenger birds obsolete. Domesticated pigeons went out of style and were released into the wild; the feral pigeons seen on city streets are descended from these birds (and their wild ancestor is the rock dove).
“Once humans stopped finding them useful, the hate really started,” said Rosemary Mosco, a science writer and author of A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird. “People started blaming pigeons for disease and lumping them in with a lot of perceived social ills.”
Though there were 176 documented transmissions of illness from feral pigeons to humans from 1941 to 2003, one study found that “the risk is very low, even for humans involved in occupations that bring them into close contact with nesting sites”.
According to the New York City health department, risk of pigeon-related diseases, including cryptococcus, histoplasmosis and psittacosis, is “rare”, though immunocompromised people face the most risk. The easiest way to prevent disease is by taking precautions when cleaning up droppings, such as avoiding direct contact and washing up afterwards. (Jardine says she’s taught Pidgey how to use the toilet, which helps with the mess.)
Mosco doesn’t own any pigeons, but she believes they’re having a comeback due to social media and the fact that they make relatively good pets. “Pigeons are naturally sort of chill,” Mosco said. “They don’t migrate, and they bond with their owners, which means they love their home. I would really encourage people to get them.”
Elizabeth Young, the founder and director of Palomacy, says that six or seven years “is a good, long life” for a pigeon living “wild and free” on the streets. But if a pigeon is a pet and well taken care of, they can live up to 20 years in captivity.
“Most of what people think they know about pigeons is wrong,” Young said. “They think they’re dirty – a pigeon would never be dirty by choice. They think they’re dumb, but they’re actually super, super smart and emotionally intelligent. We call them masters of leisure arts. They like to nap and lay in the sun and flirt and watch TV. They’re great companions for the way we live.”
Hall, the founder of Penny’s Pigeon Aid, is working on a children’s book about her late pet’s life. “I call them feathery meow-meows,” she said. “They’re so similar to cats. It’s that same kind of love and connection, but they’re also very independent. They can switch up on you in an instant. But when they want to be affectionate with you, you feel like the chosen one.”
Jardine describes Pidge as “a cross between a cat and a dog”. She follows Jardine around the house and waits by the door when she leaves – that is, if Jardine doesn’t take Pidge out with her, clipped inside a white leather Madewell purse. “She’s very content to just hang out,” Jardine says. “She purrs like a cat when she’s happy – it’s like a vibration.”
This July, Suzi Milo, a 36-year-old from Dayton, Ohio, adopted her pigeon from Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue and named him Stanley Coo-brick – also known as Stinky Stan, Stanley Bird or The Director.
“We bring him out on the couch to watch TV with us,” she said. “He likes to snuggle up with us, climb in bed or jump on my shoulder. He’s a little diva, and very easy to take care of.”
There are some things to consider before getting a pet pigeon. One: avian vets are difficult to find. Keyla Rose, a 26-year-old New Yorker, bought two birds (Tony and Oreo) from Pigeons on Broadway, a Brooklyn pet store. She travels to New Jersey to give her birds checkups. “I had to find out that a lot of vets do not see pigeons the hard way – after I got my birds,” Rose said. She found hers through Reddit. “He’s well experienced, and he likes pigeons, so it’s a win-win.”
Sometimes, Rose takes Tony out on walks in a harness, and she plans to do the same for Oreo when he’s old enough. “I’ll walk around with them on my shoulder or in my hand, just so that they can experience some sunlight,” Rose said. “People are pretty curious, and they want to know how I got them – but my pigeons are fancy, with special patterns, so you probably won’t find these types on the street.”
Though the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal law enacted in 1918, makes it illegal to possess over 1,000 species of migratory birds, pigeons do not fall under that category. Since feral pigeons descend from domesticated ones, advocates say it’s ethical to keep one as a pet, as long as it has access to space, places to perch, water baths and toys like chains or bird bells.
Like any up and coming influencer, Pidge has become something of a jet-setter. She usually flies stashed in a pet carrier, but Jardine took her out and let her look out the window on her first trip. “She was captivated by the skies,” Jardine said. “They told us to keep her in the carrier the entire flight, but I’m glad we showed her, for enrichment purposes.”
