Bird Brained: 7 Amazing Statues Conquered By Pigeons

What a lovely statue… for pigeons to poop on! Indeed, nothing tempers the er, triumphs of immortalized royalty, heroes and statesmen like a perching pigeon.

Rule Bird-tannia

Bird Brained: 7 Amazing Statues Conquered By Pigeons

It’s good to be the Queen. It’s NOT so good to be a statue of the Queen, forever subject to use and abuse by disrespectful members of the avian classes. Where’s a Beefeater when you need one, wot? Yet through it all, Her Royal Countenance remains imperious as ever – being replicated in stone cold marble does have its advantages. (images at top and above via Sarah)

* Fun Pigeon Fact: The birds we now call Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia domestica) were the first domesticated birds. They’re mentioned in records from Mesopotamian clay tablets and Egyptian hieroglyphics dating back more than 5,000 years.

The Cain Mutiny

Bird Brained: 7 Amazing Statues Conquered By Pigeons

Oh, the ignominy! Bad enough you’ve just offed your brother; now a bleepin’ bird takes a siesta (among other things) on your head. If he wasn’t made of stone, this dude might raise a little Cain – and he’d be well within his rights, being that he “IS” Cain. (image via Mustang Joe)

* Fun Pigeon Fact: The pigeons who plague (or patronize, for all you pigeon fans out there) our parks and plazas are descended from early domestic pigeons who escaped human custody and are now considered to be feral.

Pigeon Toed

Bird Brained: 7 Amazing Statues Conquered By Pigeons

OK, that was too easy but you can’t deny something’s afoot here. Say what you will about pigeons prowling about our parks, the bobbin’ birds have managed to stake out a unique niche in humanity’s urban milieu. We wouldn’t go as far to say they were thrilled about that but at least a few appear to be getting their kicks. (image via Andy / Andrew Fogg)

* Fun Pigeon Fact: Homing pigeons were painstakingly trained and extensively deployed by ancient armies, and it’s thought that lost homing pigeons were the original source of the feral pigeons we see today.

Want your statues occupied by the furry rather than the feathered? Check out Neko Nirvana: Cat-Napping In The Lap Of Buddha!