--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pigeons are gentle and smart and have…" description: "\"Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both excellent.\" — Ingrid Newkirk" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png" --- # Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social… ![“Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both excellent.” quote by Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png) > “Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both excellent.” [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pigeons possess gentle behavior, high intelligence, and complex social structures, supported by excellent hearing and vision. **In simple terms:** Pigeons are smart, social, and perceptive. Key Takeaway Value and protect intelligent urban wildlife. Themes animal behavior intelligence urban ecology Mood curious optimistic Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - urban wildlife management - public education - conservation policy - citizen science Key Concepts ethology neuroscience Questions to Reflect On - How can cities foster coexistence with pigeons? - What can pigeon social dynamics teach us about human communities? A Different Perspective Pigeons can be pests; not all interactions are positive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Gentle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentle/) [Pigeons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pigeons/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) [Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-relationships/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) ## Related quotes > [“We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-look-forward-to-hearing-your-vision-so-we-can-more-better-do-our/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Pigeon racing is a lousy, greedy, and often unlawful activity. One thing that it is not is kind to birds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeon-racing-is-a-lousy-greedy-and-often-unlawful-activity-one-thing/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Pigeons are among the most maligned urban wildlife despite the fact that human beings brought them to our shores and turned them loose in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeons-are-among-the-most-maligned-urban-wildlife-despite-the-fact/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Sin defies God, utterly corrupts each individual, corrodes all social relationships, and issues in death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/sin-defies-god-utterly-corrupts-each-individual-corrodes-all-social/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [If people who have to work together in an enterprise trust one another it is because they are all operating to a common set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-fukuyama/if-people-who-have-to-work-together-in-an-enterprise-trust-one/) [Francis Fukuyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-fukuyama/) > [“The sperm whales' network of female-based family unit resembled, to a remarkable extent, the community the whalemen had left back home on Nantucket. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/the-sperm-whales-network-of-female-based-family-unit-resembled-to-a/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [To me documentary photography means making a picture so that the viewer doesn’t think about the man who made the picture. At its esthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-siskind/to-me-documentary-photography-means-making-a-picture-so-that-the/) [Aaron Siskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-siskind/) > [The prevailing move in American society to a permanent war status does more than promote a set of unifying symbols that embrace a survival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-prevailing-move-in-american-society-to-a-permanent-war-status/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [“...class is more than income - it has to do with knowing where you stand in a web of social relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/class-is-more-than-income-it-has-to-do-with-knowing-where-you-stand/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [“One third of managers are victims of "Information Fatigue Syndrome." 49 percent said they are unable to handle the vast amounts of information received.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-davidson/one-third-of-managers-are-victims-of-information-fatigue-syndrome-49/) [Jeff Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-davidson/) > [“The reigning belief today is that closeness between persons is a moral good. The reigning aspiration today is to develop individual personality through experiences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-sennett/the-reigning-belief-today-is-that-closeness-between-persons-is-a/) [Richard Sennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-sennett/) > [Sublimation of instinct is an especially conspicuous feature of cultural development; it is what makes it possible for higher psychical activities, scientific, artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/sublimation-of-instinct-is-an-especially-conspicuous-feature-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We are (most of us) embedded in an exceedingly complex network of social relationships, many of which are vital to our well-being. Every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-corning/we-are-most-of-us-embedded-in-an-exceedingly-complex-network-of/) Peter Corning > [A new world of complex relationships and feelings opens up when the peer group takes its place alongside the family as the emotional focus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-greenspan/a-new-world-of-complex-relationships-and-feelings-opens-up-when-the/) [Stanley Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-greenspan/) > [We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes a means of creating community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-visser/we-use-eating-as-a-medium-for-social-relationships-satisfaction-of/) [Margaret Visser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-visser/) ## More by Ingrid Newkirk > [When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/when-it-comes-to-having-a-central-nervous-system-and-the-ability-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [We all have prejudices to dispel: the need to get away from thinking that 'I' am important and special and 'you' are not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/we-all-have-prejudices-to-dispel-the-need-to-get-away-from-thinking/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [The extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species. Phasing out the human race will solve every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/the-extinction-of-homo-sapiens-would-mean-survival-for-millions-if/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Pet ownership is slavery. Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or be entertained by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pet-ownership-is-slavery-animals-are-not-ours-to-eat-wear-experiment/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Perhaps measuring animal intelligence by comparing it to human intelligence isn't the best litmus test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/perhaps-measuring-animal-intelligence-by-comparing-it-to-human/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [One hates to be absolute, but in my view, there is no such thing as humane meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/one-hates-to-be-absolute-but-in-my-view-there-is-no-such-thing-as/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [It's interesting that one of the definitions of the word 'human' is 'sympathetic.' More and more people are beginning to show that they understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/it-s-interesting-that-one-of-the-definitions-of-the-word-human-is/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > […we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/we-would-like-an-end-to-pet-shops-and-the-breeding-of-animals/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Never doubt that one person can make a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/never-doubt-that-one-person-can-make-a-difference/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt ... we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/probably-everything-we-do-is-a-publicity-stunt-we-are-not-here-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [The bottom line is that people dont have the right to manipulate or to breed dogs and cats ... If people want toys, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/the-bottom-line-is-that-people-dont-have-the-right-to-manipulate-or/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Even painless research is fascism, supremacism, because the act of confinement is traumatizing in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/even-painless-research-is-fascism-supremacism-because-the-act-of/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [All of us in society are supposed to believe that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it is a good thing to prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/all-of-us-in-society-are-supposed-to-believe-that-cruelty-to-animals/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [I think if you're against cruelty and you look at what happens to animals in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, you have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/i-think-if-you-re-against-cruelty-and-you-look-at-what-happens-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/humans-have-grown-like-a-cancer-we-re-the-biggest-blight-on-the-face/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) [Explore all 118 Ingrid Newkirk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both excellent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ingrid Newkirk" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-complex-social-relationships/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-complex-social-relationships/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/ingrid-newkirk-3962_bird_pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-co_2471859.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both…” — Ingrid Newkirk", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ingrid Newkirk", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pigeons are gentle and smart and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-complex-social-relationships/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/pigeons-are-gentle-and-smart-and-have-complex-social-relationships/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```