Even so, up to 35 percent of a pigeon population may perish annually from natural causes and predators. Pigeons naturally stabilize their own populations in accordance with food supply and other factors. Many city residents and visitors find pigeons pleasant and interesting. Pigeons are amiable and give human city dwellers the welcome chance to interact with a species other than their own. These birds are very intelligent.
Pigeons commit new images to memory at lightning speed. . . .
The Coast Guard trained pigeons to peck a key when they spot the bright orange color used for life vests. The birds, suspended in a transparent box from a helicopter, are extremely adept at spotting the vests floating in the open ocean, thus saving lives. Pigeons' navigational abilities, which are largely dependent on keen vision and a superlative memory for topographic details, are legendary. Although pigeons rarely carry messages anymore, they are still used for emergency flights in London to carry blood samples from hospitals to laboratories. The most widespread misconception about urban pigeons is that they are carriers of disease.