A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching

Part field guide, part history, part ornithology primer, and altogether fun.

Pigeons are amazing, and until recently, humans adored them. We've kept them as pets, held pigeon beauty contests, raced them, used them to carry messages over battlefields, harvested their poop to fertilize our crops—and cooked them in gourmet dishes. Now, with A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, listeners can rediscover the wonder. Equal parts field guide and quirky history, it covers why they coo; how they flock; how they preen, kiss, and mate (monogamously); and how they raise their young (on chunky pigeon milk). Anatomy and identification, from the Birmingham Roller to the American Giant Runt and the Scandaroon. Birder issues, such as what to do if you find a baby pigeon stranded in the park. It also explores our lively shared story, including all the things we've taught them—Ping-Pong, for example. "Rats with wings?" Think again.

Pigeons coo, peck, and nest all over the world, yet most of us treat them with indifference or disdain. So Rosemary Mosco, a bird-lover, science communicator, writer, and cartoonist, is here to give the pigeon's image a makeover and to help every town- and city-dweller get closer to nature by discovering the joys of birding through pigeon-watching.