Can Pigeons actually navigate the NYC subway effectively?
Sorry if this is a dumb question. But pigeons are intelligent creatures right? And they’ve been accustomed to living in cities for centuries, especially New York. So with the vastness of the subway system and its practical benefits to pigeons, would they be able to understand line routes? Or would they be able to understand where one tunnel leads for example?
(Extra points if you’re a pigeon expert)
For context, I keep seeing videos of pigeons on the subway. I’m also not from America and have never been to New York.
17 comments
I love this question
I am a pidgeon, and I personally do fairly well navigating the subway. I know my aunt sucks at it, but she’s a park pidgeon so she doesn’t really travel that much. It’s gotten a lot harder recently, as we are very short and have to navigate around the increase of druggies passed out on the ground.
I dug into this briefly and it seems like people at least think they do.
This is from London. https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/london-underground-how-intelligent-pigeons-22098914
NYT sorry I don’t have a subscription https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/05/nyregion/tunnel-vision-waiting-for-the-a-train-the-sophisticated-pigeon.html
Toronto https://www.blogto.com/city/2018/11/toronto-pigeons-are-obsessed-taking-subway/
And Wikipedia thinks several species, including pigeons, will do so.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_taking_public_transportation
Personally, as a human proud to have a few indoor pet pigeons, I believe they could. Our guys are very good at figuring out how to get into human stuff and navigate our house and so forth.
>they’ve been accustomed to living in cities for centuries, especially New York.
Most pigeons live to be about six years old.
Just like people — some can, some can’t.
Street pigeons are *successful* creatures at thriving in urban environments. They are extremely dumb. I have never seen one in the New York subway. (My extended fam lives in NY.)
Now the rats on the other hand… I once saw one dragging a wrapped slice of Kraft singles cheese into the bowels of the subway tunnel with complete confidence. If I learn the rats are running an elaborate dice game down there, I will not be surprised.
I would really like to know where you got the information that pigeons live for centuries
Pigeon here. While the subway system is relatively easy to navigate, sometimes we get confused by the commotion of a busker, or distracted by kind old lady trying to feed us, and we end up in stops we don’t mean to be at.
Fortunately, we have wings and can simply fly above the traffic to our final destination.
No. Don’t apologize. I love this question and it is 100% what this subreddit *should* be here for.
I don’t know, but I think it’s important to dive into why they would be able to use the subway if they do. I doubt they understand the routes. I would guess that it is a learned behavior, perhaps taught by other pigeons. They recognize subway stations and they know that if they get on a train at X station that it will stop at Y station. As far as they are concerned it might as well be a magic portal. I would guess that it is just a long process of pigeons that found themselves on the subway, figured out that it took them somewhere else, and over time they just passed the knowledge on to other pigeons.
They have absolutely been programmed to strategically ride the network to get to where they need to be.
I mean if stray dogs can figure out how to use the moscow subway system, a pidgeon should be able to figure out how to do it in NYC
It’s their home…they live there…so yes
This reminds me of an old joke – these two pigeons are hanging out in Central Park one day, having a great time. They’re finding awesome food in the trash cans and on the park benches to share, they’re watching the people, the dogs, and the squirrels, they’re cracking jokes and making each other laugh.
The first pigeon says, “Ya know Barry, this has been so much fun, why don’t we do it again tomorrow?”
Barry says, “Sure thing Abe! I’ll tell ya what, I’ll head over here as soon as I finish lunch. We can meet right at this exact spot.”
So Abe isn’t exactly sure what time he should expect Barry the next day. He decides to show up at the agreed spot around 1:30pm. He hangs out for a while, but no sign of Barry. At first, he thinks, well, maybe he had a late lunch, or he got wrapped up doing something. But as the hours tick by, he starts to feel more and more nervous. He starts pacing, wondering what could have happened to his old friend, who’s normally so reliably.
Finally around 4:45pm, Barry saunters up and says, “Hey Abe, what’s new?”
Abe says, “What’s new?? I was worried sick about you. You said you’d come here after lunch. Where have you been??”
Barry says, “I did come here straight from lunch! But it was such a nice day, I decided to walk.”
Maybe try the r/AskNYC sub too?
Good question tbh
I’ve lived in nyc for 15 years and I have never ever seen a pigeon in a subway. The outdoor ones that are up high above the road, yes, but not the majority of the indoor ones. Like everyone else, I’ve been using it for going to work every day.
I’m sure a pigeon can fly into subway car when the door is open as there is nothing stopping it from doing so but actually seeing a pigeon in a car or even underground in a tunnel, never ever seen that.
I’m willing to bet the rats know.