Why are so many people on tumblr so obsessed with pigeons?
I really don’t know. Pigeons always struck me as people, or perhaps the equivalent of people, and as a young child I used to have a special affection for them, but I guess that is because I associate them with my early exposure to the concept of “birds.” Also, birds are small enough that I can imagine what I imagine they’re thinking, so if they can talk to me that well, I am at least somewhat inclined to believe they can talk to each other. This may be just me.
These pigeons belong to a friend of mine who keeps them in a small park near his apartment. They are friendly enough, even if a little aloof, and they are always looking for treats. (They aren’t tame, at least not fully – if you try to pet them, they’ll just stand there stiffly like some sort of Victorian cartoon character and look mildly offended.) And they know a lot of words, so my friend had to develop an amusing system for me in which if I want to ask for something, I say “Hello, my friend the pigeon,” in a pleasant voice, then I shout “DELICIA!” and throw a piece of candy in the air. The pigeons understand this and often come over to try to get my attention as I say it, and then when they get enough candy they’ll bring it to me, and thus I can ask for things. A lot of times I get something like “can you go pick up some more of these pieces of candy from the store?” and they’ll say something back to me, and I can say “DELICIA!” and the pigeons will go do that. There’s a whole repertoire of these “questions” and answers and so on.
I’m sure I’m not alone in having these sorts of interactions. In fact, it’s not unusual for a lot of people who talk to their pets in this way to become obsessed with them, and I think it’s only natural – “birds are small enough that I can imagine what I imagine they’re thinking, so if they can talk to me that well they can talk to each other.” I don’t have many thoughts on whether these sorts of “interactions” constitute the experience of “communication” but that’s my own issue. I don’t even think it’s a particularly controversial one.
Asked by cryptologicalmystic
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![[Description] a pic of two pigeons walking on a street. They are both wearing orange shirts. [Text]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8ca57ed59933216f3b6732dfde38c8d9/a9f0d33030b2ffc5-c4/s500x750/a3d3732509fb1ffdd9798fbf11e5cb15419bacac.png)
![[Description] two pigeons walking down a street, in front of a brick building. [Text]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/fb7762fdda9d89669049f8ffe396a814/a9f0d33030b2ffc5-e6/s500x750/8c14f33caa86a99eba586cad88b2eeca03a2ef48.png)
![[Description] birds walking in a row, looking at the camera. One pigeon has a black head and a white chest. Another pigeon has a black head and a [Text]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/991c38b255d56f1cfc2c5c085123e19b/a9f0d33030b2ffc5-12/s500x750/35f685fdfbd4b8fa71d4e122d5b820f6b44bb18c.png)
![[Description] ducks on a city street. They are lined up and facing forward. They are all looking at the camera. [Text]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e07dda00c496d889d40944492ae85ff9/a9f0d33030b2ffc5-48/s500x750/042caebff162f7cdcb1c25c9b3b78a2419373bac.png)
![[Description] two photos side by side. The first photo shows a young man and a bird sitting on a bench. The second photo shows the young man petting [Text]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/613814c1bc6177a253a838a2dd578bbd/a9f0d33030b2ffc5-f4/s500x750/6b27c0ecf8bab91a0d750b0224f8034574b7b6d8.png)
