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Become a Friend of Birds
As it turns out, domestic pigeons are not a new thing*. Not all pigeons can be domesticated (wood pigeons, for instance, seldom approach humans or "feral" pigeons), but some act almost like cats and dogs.
In our case, the pigeon "Bot" (formerly "Bottle") is sitting next to us throughout the day, interacting with us through the glass doors. Her partner, "Bot's Friend", sometimes joins her and protects her from other pigeons, notably "Neck", "Eagle" (very loud), and sometimes "Sleepy" and "Cleaner" (in descending order of aggression). Yes, indeed we can identify them and we have for all of them names that describe their behaviour (like Native Americans did). For instance, "Bot" (now "Mama Bot" because her eggs hatched this month) eats directly from a bottle, hence the name. When we adopted "Neck" 2+ years ago he had terrible moulting around his neck (he has since then become the most dominant pigeon here).
If you are looking for a pet that does not make a mess indoors, then go feed pigeons and try to develop a friendly relationship with them. Because yes, they do recognise faces and develop affinity/trust. █
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* 2026-06-04 The pigeon fanciers of the Bronze Age
Image source: Two mourning doves enjoying breakfast