'Rats with wings': Do pigeons get a bum rap?

While pigeons don't pose an especial health risk to the general population, people who have a lot of contact with them and their excrement - professionally or otherwise - should nonetheless take precautions. — Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa

Buildings are their cliffs, a few twigs suffice as nests, and human food scraps do nicely as meals. City pigeons, also called feral pigeons, among other - some nasty - things, are notorious for their droppings and widely seen as pests. To make matters worse, they breed fast and aren't shy.

But perhaps we view them too harshly. After all, the poor birds are descendants of fugitives and outcasts.