How pigeons took over the world - Elizabeth Carlen and Joanna Moles

Trace the ancient history of the pigeon, and discover how these birds became one of the most abundant species on the planet.
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Seeing their meat as a protein source and their poop as the perfect fertilizer, humans brought pigeons into captivity as far back as 10,000 years ago. As we carried pigeons around the world, they formed the wild urban flocks we're familiar with today and became one of the most abundant species on the planet. Elizabeth Carlen and Joanna Moles track the feathery flier's rise to world domination.
Lesson by Elizabeth Carlen and Joanna Moles, directed by Joseph Clark, Oh Studio.
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Keep Learning
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View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-pigeon...
Dig deeper with additional resources: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-pigeon...
Animator's website: www.ohstudio.co.uk
Music: www.campstudio.co
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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Samuel Barbas, Brighteagle, LadyGeek, Curtis Light, Dianne Palomar, Marin Kovachev, Fahad Nasser Chowdhury, Penelope Misquitta, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Sunny Patel, Hoai Nam Tran, Stina Boberg, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Jurjen Geleijn, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Brad Sullivan, Aaron Henson, Karen Ho, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Mikhail Shkirev, Brian Richards, Cindy O. and Jørgen Østerpart.

[@chips3242]

TED-Ed : How to deal with depression Also TED-Ed : Pigeons are taking over the world

[@LudicQuab]

AGREED LMAO

[@malinisinha5197]

Thats what my dad and I talk about almost everytime we reach the topic of ecological balance . To see a channel like Ted Ed making a video on it makes me feel a bit superior . People don't really talk about pigeons in that way and I did it .... I clicked it straightaway after receiving the notification due to this reason ....

[@brawmankerlexterminateurde860]

Dinosaurs will take over the world once again and we don't mind it

[@DarthHao]

Life finds a way

[@brawmankerlexterminateurde860]

@@malinisinha5197 i won't say superior but out of being average and ordinary Plus too I will say you have a good dad if he share his ecology passion with ya props to that and yeah pigeons or any urban wild creatures are always and highly undermistate by the city folks since humans infested their territory without a care

[@MANGLORIOUS]

“For better or for worse, we did this to our selves” That sums up most of societies problems.

[@damunaik4]

Except we cant say the "problems" are for better. There's only one way, and they're bad.

[@adorablecheetah2930]

Sums up my marriage

[@-rg7bz]

Yup

[@MagneticDonut]

The animation is outstanding. So minimalistic yet so so creative.

[@sanchitpriyadarshi257]

You couldn't be more true! It's absolutely one of the best animations.

[@ScumfuckMcDoucheface]

Totally agree. I usually love TED-Ed's animation, but this is the first time I loved it enough to comment. =)

[@sanchitpriyadarshi257]

@@ScumfuckMcDoucheface Indeed, the Pigeons were so adorable, they simply left me in an utter absence of words that even I couldn't resist.

[@CarlosJuarezAlucard64]

it reminded me to one adventure time episode when they turn into birds.

[@bryanturnbow8189]

You’re that guy we don’t talk about.

[@rohanb2657]

Pigeons : can travel miles across land and sea without exhaustion. The pigeons above my house : " FOOD. WE NEED FOOD ! "

[@sanchitpriyadarshi257]

Hahahaha.... Can't stop laughing!

[@ladygrinningsoul357]

True, I can tell.

[@solar0wind]

Pigeons are very malnourished in cities. They have the breeding instinct, so they can breed and survive on scraps of junk food, but they're usually miserable and sick. You can see it by their poop. Is it liquid? Then the pigeon is malnourished. It should be mostly solid, not completely liquid.

[@ricky_pigeon]

nom nom nom nom

[@sanchitpriyadarshi257]

@@solar0wind Yeah, you're absolutely right. Even I have noticed it to be mostly liquid... Though people in my small neighborhood feed pigeons usually, but since their population is also no less than around 50K, so malnourishment is a sure fact.

[@ismailhassan5297]

I love how you just see the thumbnail and go "That's right! Why are there so many pigeons?!". They just bring out the questions in us that we never really thought we needed answers for.

[@mariesah]

exactly!!

[@imusedtoit]

not for me, i've been investigating pigeon world domination for years...

[@stevenlubick2689]

Unless you are lover of trivia 😂😂👍👍

[@Dessy9418]

This comment wins because they literally get us every time!!! 😂😂

[@clintonfernandes5945]

No i always had this curiosity on the origins of pigeons and why they breed like rats. Also are usually found in cities in high numbers compared to greener places. So this video did cover everything

[@biancacampos7078]

LMFAOOO i love how they gave him a medal I just know he went back to his family like « we did it boys pigeons on the map »

[@cameronsharpe6647]

his wife definitely regurgitated him a fresh congratulatory pile of crop milk lol

[@NOOBCRASTINATOR69]

@@cameronsharpe6647 🤣🤣🤣

[@thelordnaevis4946]

ted ed answers literally the most random questions but still does it the best

[@IamAvidity]

The more random the questions are the higher the click rate is, would be my assumption. As short videos like these are fun distractions from the tasks at hand.

[@thelordnaevis4946]

@@IamAvidity I think the same, because popular questions are either asked too much or the answer is already known by the majority

[@twicepilled]

THE LORD NAEVIS 😭

[@thelordnaevis4946]

@@twicepilled yes? 😌

[@Native-Kitty]

I’m from NYC and I actually refer to the pigeons as “sky rats” myself. I don’t see them as bothersome though. They’re just trying to live their lives like other beings on this planet.

[@TucsonDude]

At your expense with little return, but who cares about economics anyway??

[@TigerheartedWolf]

@@TucsonDude Sums up a lot of my fellow humans perfectly.

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@TucsonDude Getting rid of them could be costly and nigh Impossible.

[@zmars5798]

NYC is a sh*thole now anyway, and I am very sure pigeons are not the problem.

[@Talibland]

Hi,I’m a girl from Afghanistan,Taliban killed my family and now I’m making videos about Taliban rules and human rights here to inform people about our situation,and also i with my sister are taking care of 7kids who became homeless because Taliban killed their family too,before Taliban came here i had a job i made a lot of embroidery and sell them to tourists but now no one travel here anymore,so I decided to sell them to foreigners with selling them online….please give me a chance to tell my story

[@AirQuotes]

Pigeons and bats deserve way more respect.

[@kenyanicholas6809]

And rats

[@AirQuotes]

@@kenyanicholas6809 nah rats deserve their bad reps

[@floatingwaterlily6754]

I love the coocoo sounds so lovely. We should respect to any species that still blooming in our earth after all we have done to them. The great man can't exist in the narrow heart.

[@sanchitpriyadarshi257]

Love the animation: so cute, entertaining, informing, simple and sufficient!

[@honorarymancunian7433]

I loved the Easter egg of the pigeon lady from Home Alone 2 too :)

[@mathewlopez]

The fact that pigeons have accomplished more than me is sad

[@ricky_pigeon]

You have more likes on youtube, so you accomplished something.

[@matyashansel438]

They needed thousands of years, though

[@RialuCaos]

Come now, you can't compare yourself to the collective of an entire species.

[@tangytablets5150]

Pigeons are pretty amazing. And the illustrations are so cute.

[@AlbinoBlackHole]

I always loved pigeons! They're so fascinating! It breaks my heart when people call them "rats with wings" :(

[@kirapokelmann618]

The Pigeon-Fancying scene got me :D

[@shankysays]

In my city crows and pigeon and sparrows are everywhere. But crows outnumber pigeons by lot.

[@stewedtea]

You definitely live in India

[@Sienisota]

Crows keep the roads clean.

[@mithileshthakkar623]

In my place sparrows outnumbered crows and pigeon

[@sahilverma7502]

@@stewedteaIndia is so huge but in our area of India pigeons outnumber crows, sparrows by lot and also mostly we Indians give them water and food to eat🙂

[@eduardpeeterlemming]

Pidgeons are so cool that even Chickens copy their head movement

[@sleepingratto]

i like pigeons (and rats, but that's besides the point here lol). pigeons are cute and chill and you can see such a variety of colors and patterns in the city! ^-^

[@OA2605]

Me watching it while having a piegon giving eggs and making nest in one of my plant pots in my balcony...

[@bobbifreedman2435]

I love pigeons. Adorable.

[@AyaHaruki]

I love how the pigeons are just cute blobs 💖

[@pranatirajput546]

excacly!

[@kaeptive]

Lovely animation! So smooth and with such a great flow.

[@nijironi2114]

Pigeons: *flies during WW2* Also pigeons: *accidentally hits my bedroom window*

[@JDLaw]

The animation is on point and so cute!

[@ClaudiaCP]

I've always loved pigeons! and now I have one myself (found him as a squab with a broken wing -probably from the fall- so he's my baby now 😍

[@jasonderv9025]

Squabs are always in trouble :(. Hope you get treatment for him/her so they can eventually get back to home

[@creativebeetle]

The animation, style, and voiceover are all delightful!

[@lrtucci]

One of my most favorite books was entitled PIGEONS - just loved reading all about their rich history!

[@harshinikk5566]

This video through it’s art style and content made me very happy

[@Sjalabais]

Fantastic illustration!

[@ujjwaljain12345]

Thanks for showing this. Always wondered

[@mariesah]

THE ANIMATION THO!!! LOVE IT

[@mholmes2125]

All of my friends call me pigeon so I loved this.

[@lindapriest8249]

I love these videos they eat very interesting and informative I've learned a lot from them

[@dailydoseofmedicinee]

Pigeons are considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the planet and able to undertake tasks previously thought to be the sole preserve of humans and primates.

[@Iamrightyouarewrong]

no.

[@chad8813]

You spelled ravens wrong

[@brawmankerlexterminateurde860]

Not to mentioned They are one of the fastest birbs Almost making them the bird version of flies

[@raziasultana5222]

@@chad8813 lol

[@rayjohnson67]

not the ones that enter my room, and when i came in, kept slamming their head in to the ceiling to try and get away.

[@yahyaharyantoo]

such a beautiful and gorgeous animation

[@anadd6195]

I love pidgeons! They're so cute and clever!

[@MiguelTorrellas]

Pigeons are rats with wings? the commissioner didn't knew the existence of seagulls. Pigeons are like an adorable panda bear compared to those flying warts food gobblers screaming bullies

[@rollintweeds234]

Great lesson. Gained new respect for an everyday friend. Love the low-tech warrior role, too.

[@SwasthyaNeer]

Amazing work!

[@sankhuz]

Man... Pigeons are amazing 🐦

[@radiusbecka1799]

Thanks so much for using the metric system! Great and surprisingly interesting video

[@FishyRaijin]

“You have to accept the fact that sometimes you are the pigeon, and sometimes you are the statue.” -Claude Chabrol

[@monikadraws]

Ugh, the animation is SO good!

[@keikosalvia2914]

The animation is simple but it's so good

[@user-ep6zc2iu5w]

Pigeons one of the most extraordinary birds with all types of pollution they could survive and even thrive

[@anonymousdude2550]

I can simply yet whole heartedly say -"Wow" The animation is fantastic nd cute😁... And the story is... Uff❤️

[@yusufrosyid3561]

Very insightful😇

[@karangill6787]

I love when Ted-ed picks up topics that are just roaming or flying around, without us noticing!

[@everyrose3225]

Thank you, so interesting and wonderful final reflexion

[@NameNotNeeded]

It’s the fact their family can go from husband and wife to great great grandchildren in the span of a month that made me quickly barricade my terrace.

[@franticranter]

Yknow what, I actually really like pigeons. It's the seagulls who are the worst. At least pigeons don't steal our food, like seagulls

[@Sienisota]

And pigeons are less noisy. At least where I live, seagulls scream. That highpitched whine is annoying as heck.

[@fandroid6491]

Seagulls: Flying rats of the sea

[@SoloQueuer69]

seriously! i used to visit the seaside a lot and every time i see a seagull wailing on pigeons to steal their popcorn. they're natural dicks and loud af

[@bobaberry7313]

a monkey raided my home

[@jrhooman]

the animation is so freaking cute its amazing

[@edwardgorman8831]

Great vid

[@victoralleva]

Wow, thats amazing!!

[@Blue_Pumpkin]

I love Ted-Ed

[@ConalRF]

Crazy to think a domesticated animal is doing so well fending for themselves in human habitation.

[@mageeaaron2624]

Fascinating!

[@aishairmayeni4951]

Oh my god!!! There's Home Alone 2 refrence in this animation!!! Thank you ted-ed!!!

[@ministerofjoy]

Thank you🙌🏼

[@jasonlema9136]

I love pigeons, they remind me of the average city dweller. It’s so funny when they’re next to me on a train platform looking pissed that the train is taking so long to come. Like bro you can go anywhere 😂

[@dynamosaurusimperious2718]

Well this is really cool

[@PeperoTheChihuahua]

I love pigeons, they are so cute and round, and have the prettiest iridescent feathers!

[@LayllasLocker]

There is a pigeon family that nested on my balcony. Mom pigeon has a white tail, so she is easily recognizable. They had 1 baby and then twins. Two were white. And then the last baby was eaten by a crow. :( From that time they do not nest anymore, but they still come by to see if there are some crops available for brunch.

[@luckyereen]

This video has treated my insomnia for tonight. Thank you pigeons! 🌃

[@eyniyakaateyniwan1273]

outstanding

[@ValValiantThor216]

Paddy wins a medal for gallantry 😀 that's awesome

[@krkrbbr]

They multiplied as the government increased the budget for surveillance. Coincidence?

[@dhruvakhera5011]

yea and they are more active in high density areas, which people can assume to be due to the larger amount of food wasted 😳

[@krkrbbr]

@@dhruvakhera5011 a perfect facade

[@ricky_pigeon]

They even have us watching youtube too.

[@ithinkiamlostareyoulostasw1971]

There are many parks in the city in wich you can see hundreds of them. I guess having a bag with little bread pieces and throw them is always funny, smart animals with funny walking 😅

[@TigerheartedWolf]

My suggestion for the next time you do that - make it a bag of seeds. It's healthier for them (and any bird you choose to feed).

[@ithinkiamlostareyoulostasw1971]

@@TigerheartedWolf that sounds cool, is rice good for them!? 😮

[@alokbaluni8760]

@@ithinkiamlostareyoulostasw1971 If the pigeon is Asian then yes

[@ithinkiamlostareyoulostasw1971]

@@alokbaluni8760 guess will be better to give them seed then lol

[@jasonderv9025]

@@ithinkiamlostareyoulostasw1971 they love sunflower seeds so I always carry some with me. Pidgeons also learn to recodnise human faces :)

[@hiyo9144]

I’ve never seen a pigeon before… Although I’m not from a big city. I just typically see pileated woodpeckers, Cardinals, Blue Jays, yellow-breasted chats, Barred Owls with their easy to recognize calls, vultures, and every now and then a Bald Eagle.

[@MikaelaKMajorHistory]

There are so many pigeons in Korea (the only city I’ve really been to was Seoul, even though I live in the US) and they refuse to fly. They’ll run around if chased and only fly if they find it necessary

[@AmarnathKumar-ti5su]

Anticipating a video on Aztec myth/curse of werewolves and vampires!

[@RoRke21]

15 years ago, house sparrow were a common site near my house, 10 years ago it was crows, now I go to zoos to watch them because it's just pigeons flying around.

[@Bidibidibunny]

I would love if you guys did this art style and topic with Canadian geese!

[@ScumfuckMcDoucheface]

Agree, well, the Canadian goose part, I love how ever video has different animation... though I do really love the animation on this video

[@OliverJazzz]

Great idea!

[@fappingfoopa]

Paddy the OG

[@nathansfarcioc5575]

They were literally apart of our infrastructure, AGHK it allways comes full circle

[@sarahngo8096]

So nice for kids

[@meejinhuang]

They're a good food source.

[@arnav420]

2:18 beautiful✨

[@jenebethcabungcag2306]

So entertaining 😃

[@MrPntr21]

i really like pigeons

[@audreydeatherage2131]

i love the opening quote by Charles Darwin for this one. i can imagine the tone of voice. i think its pretty cute honestly

[@YogeshKumar-kf3yl]

Look at all those Pegions

[@KiwyAMV]

This made me remember of kekeflipnote. Those pigeons

[@busterbailey5320]

They slander them, take them for granted. Not me. I appreciate city bird. I love you pigeon

[@benjamintan2733]

I always reminded of that pigeon song from Phinease and Ferb whenever I hear pigeon. Anyway, my neighbour attract a flock of pigeon by throwing some rice to their compose, and now they always flock around my house looking for food. Well, one consolation, I felt that the caterpillar numbers have been decreasing lately, wonder if they eat those bugs?

[@sharkbait_hoohannah]

Patty a hero

[@KaritKtana]

If pigeons are starting to sound more interesting, watch Spies in Disguise :) They managed to design a cute one at the very least! I still don't like pigeons, but it's a lovely, underrated movie 💟

[@fooxling]

I love pigeons, they’re extremely pretty and smart as well! They can recognise themselves in mirrors and make amazing pets! Better than parrots, even!

[@solar0wind]

As it is for parrots: They're social, not solitary, so always get two of the species.

[@ricky_pigeon]

I wish i could say the same about you humans.

[@sleepyash00]

Ted ed: but just remember we did this to ourselves me: annoyed by pigeons also me: let a pigeon lay two eggs in my balcony and fed food everyday

[@NightDawnDusk]

My favourite animal

[@aguineapig12]

Respect to my friend Joe the pigeon

[@lichichan9425]

pigeons are kinda cute

[@ricky_pigeon]

humans are cute sometimes too

[@alexsbarricades8218]

"Pigeons taking over the world" This video made my day 🤣

[@sreejaprasannakumar2464]

I never found the pigeon more interesting.

[@smyrnamarauder1328]

İnteresting i was just thinking about it today

[@mybabypocato]

Pigeons be like : *Why there are so many freakin' humans !?*

[@youngteacheralex5231]

When pigeons land on my balcony: "I'M GONNA MAK E A NEST" Now my balcony is swarmed by pigeons every noon

[@lauramirai]

I'm pretty sure NY has more than a million pigeons. :o

[@AfaqueAhmed_]

Ted Ed :- Pigeons are taking over the world . Americans who literally hunted the passenger pigeons to extinction :- Hello , Sorry ?

[@aphexbubblebath]

Pigeon Lady from Home Alone @3:46