hello and welcome back to a shot of wildlife in this video I'm going to tell you almost everything you need to know about the feral pigeon when it comes to Wildlife feral pigeons sit in a bit of a gray area they are descended from a wild species The Rock Dove but almost all of them that are living in the wild today have domestic ancestors that escaped or got lost and set up a new life in the wild Rock doves were domesticated between 5 and 10 000 years ago and have been selectively bred for meat for fancy colors patterns and shapes and for their unique homing ability these birds have an inbuilt understanding of their location in the world and can return to their home from hundreds sometimes even thousands of miles away without ever seeing the route before this has led to them being kept by pigeon Racers who challenge one another to see if their pigeons can get home faster than their opponents but it has also led to a much more valuable use to save lives and to send messages during times of War in fact during the second world war 54 Dickens medals were awarded by the UK for the service of animals of these 32 were given to pigeons [Music] because of their varied past feral pigeons come in a wide range of colors and sizes from completely black red blue gray completely white and sometimes a mix of all of the above you have a wingspan of 63 to 70 centimeters and weigh from 230 to 370 grams males are usually slightly larger than females but as their size is so varied from appearance alone it's almost impossible to sex a pigeon historically Rock doves would have eaten seeds grains berries and fruits but as feral pigeons live almost entirely around human settlements their Dart is far more varied and features a lot of scraps some that are fed to them and some which they get themselves from among rubbish you may have noticed that some pigeons are missing Toes or sometimes even their entire feet and this is a direct result of them getting their food from in bins and among rubbish whilst doing so they can become Tangled in wire string or hair and eventually cast the circulation to their digits feral pigeons can breed from six months of age when males will begin courting females to do this they puff their chest feathers and perform a dance sometimes spinning hopping Fanning their tails and making the well-known bubbling pigeon cool once a pair is formed they will often remain together until one of them dies [Music] after pairing the birds create a flimsy platform nest of twigs and other small objects naturally this would have been on a cliff Edge or in a cave but in cities they prefer to use man-made Ledges and almost ironically they seem to be pretty good at making their nests on top of anti-bird spikes or among anti-bird netting [Music] each pair lays two eggs at a time these are white measure about four centimeters long and take 18 to 19 days to hatch when the chicks which are known as squabs first emerge they're covered in a layer of yellow down both of their parents feed them in a nest with a cream-like substance which is known as crop milk which they produce in their crops which is a pouch-like area in their throats the squab stayed in this were between 24 and 30 days when they leave fully feathered and about the same size as their parents this is why you might think you've never seen a baby pigeon Because by the time they leave the nest they're almost indistinguishable from adults young birds are fed by their parents for a further two weeks after leaving the nest by which time the next clutch of eggs may have already been laid unlike most birds feral pigeons can Nest throughout the colder months as long as there's enough food available meaning in towns and cities they often do so and can wear up to six clutches within a year I don't know how well it's coming across in this narration but I really like fell pigeons and I couldn't make a fact file about them without stating just how intelligent they are they're one of the only birds that can recognize themselves in a mirror they can identify every letter of the alphabet they can count at least up to nine and they've even been taught how to play ping pong in the world feral pigeons have an average lifespan of three to five years but their captive counterparts can live a lot longer with the oldest pigeon on record making it to 24 and a half years of age [Music] and that's all for now if you enjoyed this video then you'll probably also like this one here with almost everything you need to know about the wood pigeon thanks for watching and I'll see you next time [Music]