Domestic pigeons mainly eat seeds and grains.
• Pigeons also eat insects, fruit, and vegetation, and scavenge food people provide for them—intentionally or
unintentionally.
• While young birds of other species are fed a high-protein diet of insects, young pigeons are fed “pigeon
milk”—a milky-white fatty substance regurgitated from both parents’ crops.
• Pigeons feed on open ground such as that found in parks and squares, on rooftops, at food-loading docks and
garbage dumps, and wherever people eat outdoors. They seem to prefer open feeding areas that permit a
speedy getaway if a threat is detected.
• Unlike most birds that must tip their heads back to swallow water, pigeons can drink by sucking water directly
from a puddle or other water source.