Who rules the streets and skies of the city? From posh park dwellers to scrappy sidewalk scavengers, discover how New York’s pigeons have evolved to survive in two very different worlds.
Features
How NYC Pigeons Survive the City That Never Sleeps
Times Square never shuts down, and neither do its pigeons.
Pigeon Dating Rituals: The Strut, The Coo… and The Kiss
Discover how pigeons find a mate for life.
Preview of The Pigeon Hustle
Uncover the secret world of New York and London’s resilient pigeon flocks.
TRANSCRIPT
It's here that the carriage horses are fed.
And the mixture of oats and grains is similar to the diet of a wild rock dove.
The constant cooing of these pigeons is a sure sign they're well fed.
So there's always a full-throated chorus from this sleek, healthy gang.
A few blocks downtown on Fifth Avenue, it's a very different story.
These pigeons have little access to any sort of green space.
They live a completely urban existence - surrounded by endless traffic, noise and pollution.
They're smaller, scruffier and less well-nourished than the Central Park flock.
But they've also found a way of making the city work for them.
This gang works to the clock.
The hot dog stand opens every day at 8:00 AM sharp, and the pigeons gather bang on time for a free handout.
Feeding so close to traffic is dangerous.
And every day, the Fifth Avenue flock takes huge risks.
But pigeons have a set of remarkable adaptations to deal with life in all this chaos.
With eyes on the sides of their heads, they can see an incredible 340 degrees around them.
And being a member of a gang helps too.
With so many eyes, the flock covers each other's blind spots.