the.com/pigeon
the city's most underestimated genius, navigating by Earth's magnetic field while eating your fries
means A common stout-bodied bird with a small head and cooing call, found wild and domesticated worldwide, especially abundant in cities.
from From Old French 'pijon,' meaning a young dove, which traces back to Late Latin 'pipionem' — a 'peeping' or 'chirping' chick, from 'pipire,' to peep or cheep. So the name began as baby-talk: the bird is literally 'the little peeper.' English originally kept 'dove' for the bird and used 'pigeon' for the squab, but over time pigeon took over for the streetwise grown-up version.
- war heroes
- Decorated military messengers saved thousands of lives in WWI and WWII
- mirror test
- One of few animals to recognize itself in mirrors
- baby mystery
- Almost nobody has ever seen a baby pigeon
- milk makers
- Both parents produce crop milk to feed chicks
- math whiz
- Can distinguish paintings by Monet from Picasso
carrier pigeon — used by military and civilians for 2000+ years, notably in wwi and wwii to deliver messages across enemy lines
rock pigeon — columba livia, descended from cliffs of mediterranean, now found in every major city on earth
passenger pigeon — ectopistes migratorius, hunted to extinction in north america by 1914, numbered in billions before