Many scientists are skeptical about the contributions that studies of feral pigeons can make to science. But, feral pigeons have adapted to life in cities, in suburban parks, on beaches, and on farms. Populations have been established in North America for 200 years and on other continents for much longer. In spite of this, their populations continue to have individuals of many different colors—they have never reverted to the colors of their wild relatives in the Mediterranean and beyond. The original pigeon color morph, called blue-bar, is distinguished by the dark gray stripes (wing bars) on its light gray wings. No other feral animal has kept its domestic colors for more than a few generations—why, then, aren’t feral pigeons all blue-bars?

Ecologists usually assume the colors of organisms are somehow matched to their environments. The fact that most feral species revert to their "wild-type" colors after several generations helps confirm the effects of environment on color. Ecologists have at least three possible explanations of why organisms match their environments. First, individuals that are easy to see can be detected easily by predators—if a conspicuously colored animal gets eaten, it won’t to have as many offspring as individuals who aren’t easily detected. Alternatively, individuals of particular colors might be preferred as mates and thus produce more offspring than those of other colors. A third hypothesis suggests that particular colors indicate dominance within a flock. When food is in short supply, as happens in wild populations, dominant individuals get more food and are more likely to reproduce. Because colors are inherited, the colors of individuals in future generations depend on who has the most offspring. After several generations, some colors will disappear entirely from feral populations.

Following these ideas about colors, we then ask "Why are there so many colors of feral pigeons?" This question is too difficult to test directly, so for each flock we instead ask, "What are the proportions of each color morph?" and "What color males are mated to what color females?"

With these data, we can begin to determine how color morphs are distributed across the country and whether pigeons choose mates that are similar to or different from themselves. Notice that we still don’t have any information about predators or food abundance, but these data will help to rule out or confirm the influence of mate choice on pigeon colors.

Currently, Julie Zickefoose, one of our favorite pigeon artists, is painting a new color-morph poster. Also, all Project PigeonWatch materials have been rewritten and reorganized to make them easier to use. They have some new photos and artwork, including submissions from participants. We are now developing project materials for youth group leaders. These will be completed this winter, with all-new projects and ideas for implementation.

Now is the time to renew—we will send these materials only to renewing or new participants. See the enclosed coupon to join or to renew. Your participation is vital.