Feral pigeons are derived from domesticated pigeons returned to the wild, which in turn were originally bred from rock pigeons. When in the wild, rock pigeons naturally inhabit – you guessed it – rocks. Preferably a place with a nice view, like a sea-cliff or the side of a mountain. This is why they have their grey plumage – to blend in with the rock beneath them, so that they can enjoy their view without getting interrupted by something unpleasant, such as a hungry peregrine falcon. It’s for the imminent lack of this ninja like camouflage that you don’t see too many roosters hanging out on cliff-sides and ledges of skyscrapers – their red comb is quite too prominent, and if that wasn’t enough for our hungry peregrine friend to spot it, it will crow passionately towards the sun, shaking its shiny red comb for that extra visibility, until the light is no more. Plus – with relevance to them sitting on ledges of buildings, sometimes near the kitchen window – they taste great with a lemon and some garlic thrown in there.
Now, back to the subject – if there ever was one. The rock camouflage works just as well as concrete camouflage, and street pigeons still need it as badly as their rock loving cousins – first of all because those hungry peregrine falcons have followed their cooing friends’ example and moved to the city, but also because the humans inhabiting the cities are trying to exterminate them with everything from poison to special pigeon contraceptives. Tough luck.
Instead of trying to get rid of them, I think we should embrace them (not physically though, unless you feel like a trip to the local drugstore), being the only animals with a concrete camouflage they deserve the space. Coo coo.