Due to their ubiquity, pigeons have long been nicknamed “rats with wings.” If mammals pester people in their homes, birds do not give rest on the street. These arrogant beggars have long earned themselves a bad reputation as carriers of a wide variety of infections. However, upon closer examination, interesting facts are revealed that allow you to look at pigeons, if not with respect, but at least with interest. 
Pigeons accompany people everywhere, eventually turning into a stupid symbol of a feathered parasite. Of course, there may still be romantics among people who sing of pigeon fidelity and admire the flights of these birds, but many city dwellers and villagers consider these creatures of nature to be very narrow-minded and downright dangerous. To slightly change the impression, let's add a few little-known facts about pigeons - who knows, maybe they will make you treat the pichuga with more respect?
Unusual vision 
In order for the pigeon to create the illusion of movement, it needs frames to flicker at a speed of 75 frames per second. For example, if you make a pigeon sit in front of the screen, then any movie
(24 frames per second) will seem like a series of slowly changing slides.
The bird's vision is designed in such a way that it sees at a greater distance than a person (up to 3 km). It was these birds that were used in search and rescue operations by the US coast services. They were trained to distinguish the colors of different life jackets and boats, after which the pigeons indicated which direction the drowning person was located by pecking on the desired button in one of the four cardinal directions.
Built-in navigator 
Pigeons are able to find their way home. It was this feature that was used for postal items. They succeed in this due to a couple of internal “devices” given to the body by nature.
Firstly, birds remember special signs that they encounter along the way (including scents - pigeons also use them to navigate in space). And secondly, this is an internal “navigator” that responds to the Earth’s magnetic fields. A separate part of the brain is responsible for this function. Thanks to this “compass”, pigeons are able to remember a fairly long journey, for example, from Rome to Brussels.
They don't forgive insults 
Unlike domesticated pigeons, their wild counterparts are more cunning and intelligent. This is not surprising - otherwise they will not survive. They are distinguished by an excellent memory, which they demonstrate not only when memorizing the road - the birds remember their offenders well. Something similar is demonstrated by crows, again and again attacking anyone who dares to offend the chick, even if the person changes clothes or cuts his hair. Wild pigeons behave the same way, but those birds that fed in cities have lost their rancor and become more good-natured.
Excellent memorization abilities 
Pigeons have an excellent ability to remember. Scientists at the Mediterranean Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience showed birds a series of cards in pairs: one with a picture, the other with a color. The researchers wanted to determine how many image-color connections pigeons were able to remember. The scientists were surprised by the results: the average was very high. The pigeons remembered from 800 to 1200 combinations.
Ability to compromise 
It is believed that pigeons are stupid. However, experiments conducted at Oxford University prove that things are not so simple. Carrier pigeons have been equipped with GPS devices to track their flight paths. Surprisingly, those birds that were on the same path (they were not flying to the same point, but in the same direction) set off together. Scientists have concluded that pigeons are capable of making compromise decisions, because flying together is safer than flying alone.
Mathematics ability 
Scientists have found that pigeons are able to operate with abstract mathematical categories, as, for example, primates do. A group of birds were given three sets of objects: one containing one object, another two, and a third three, and were taught to peck at the boxes containing the sets in ascending order. Then they added more, and more, and more to these three, until they got a set with 9 objects. The pigeons did not lose count and, even if the sets were placed chaotically, they pecked them according to the number of objects inside.
Pigeons live next to humans for about 5,000 years 
The first mention of these birds is found on clay tablets of Mesopotamia, and the remains of birds were found along with the burials of ancient Egyptians. In many ancient cultures, the dove was considered a religious symbol.
Drenie family ties 
Modern pigeons had an ancient relative - the Mauritian dodo or dodo, which became extinct in the 17th century. Remember "Alice in Wonderland"? The Dodo bird from this book is exactly that, the Mauritian dodo, a pigeon relative.
Bright colors 
Not all pigeons are plain gray birds. There are many species of pigeons in the world with amazing colors that are not inferior to the plumage of parrots. Pictured is the Pink-headed Pied Pigeon, which ranges from the southern tip of Thailand through Malaysia to Borneo and Sumatra. 
The orange pied dove is endemic to Fiji. 
Red-necked Pied Pigeon from the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali. 
Pheasant pigeon - inhabitant of the island. New Guinea.
Fan-crowned pigeon 
This bird lives in the north of the islands of New Guinea, males weigh up to 3.5 kg.
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