An interesting history!
"It was once a god—or at least it was associated with the divine. It served as a symbol of valor, fertility, and peace. We welcomed it into our homes, before we booted it out.
Today, people love to hate pigeons. In recent decades, they’ve been derided as flying rodents that defecate on sidewalks and bring disease to cities. ...
From there, the use of the pigeon as a messenger went worldwide. Ancient Egyptians used pigeons to send messages about rising flood levels and ascending pharaohs. The Greeks used the birds to relay the results of Olympic games. Julius Caesar sent news of his military conquests in Gaul back to Rome by pigeon. Word of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo made its way to London on the back of the bird.
Perhaps history’s most famous carrier pigeon is the feathered World War I hero named Cher Ami. In 1918, a battalion of Allied troops was pinned behind enemy lines. Bombarded by their own side, the troops attached a note requesting a reprieve to the bird’s leg. Despite being shot in the chest and leg, Cher Ami—French for “dear friend”—arrived back to its loft 25 miles away in time to save 194 lives. The cherished bird was nursed back to health and awarded the French Croix de Guerre. ...
As pigeons filled cities, health officials increasingly—and often incorrectly—attributed illnesses to the birds.
In 1945, authorities in Philadelphia claimed hundreds of pigeons were infected with psittacosis, a disease that can spread to humans through bird droppings.
In 1945, authorities in Philadelphia claimed hundreds of pigeons were infected with psittacosis, a disease that can spread to humans through bird droppings.
In 1963, a New York health official attributed two deaths from cryptococcal meningitis to pigeons. Signs popped up in Queens saying: “Do Not Feed Pigeons. Pigeons Are the Greatest Disease Carriers.”
“They were easy scapegoats,” ...
But the biggest blow to the bird’s reputation came in 1966. With New York in economic decline, city officials launched a campaign to revitalize Bryant Park. ...
But authorities saved some of their sharpest vitriol for “our most persistent vandal.” Officials told The New York Times the park’s 500 resident rock doves destroyed vegetation and presented “a health menace.” Thomas Hoving, the park commissioner, called the pigeon “a rat with wings”—likely the first recorded instance of an epithet that would tail the bird for the next half-century. ..."
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