A woman who carries her pet pigeon around in her handbag says she “feels like a proud mum” when people spot them together.
Abby Jardine regularly brings her pet pigeon out for the day, carried in a dedicated bag – whether it’s to run errands, meet friends or just go for a walk in the park.
She said the pigeon, named Pidge, “pretty quickly became a permanent family member”.
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The 28-year-old found the baby pigeon when she was around three weeks old and had been pushed out of her nest too early.
“She was trying to hide in a corner near some trash near my apartment,” Abby told What’s The Jam.
“I checked on her every time I went out that day, and was really worried about her since it was a busy street, so I ended up catching her in a bag and taking her inside.
“She couldn’t fly or eat on her own, so she wouldn’t have made it outside.
“I thought this would be a temporary thing, where I took care of her for a few weeks and then let her go.”
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However, the content creator quickly found it hard to detach – as pigeons are intelligent and affectionate creatures.
She added: “Baby birds bond extremely fast, and I found out that pigeons are domestic animals and thrive as pets.
“They typically live 15+ years as pets instead of just two or three years on the street.
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“After a couple of weeks caring for her at home, Pidge had grown a lot, and I wanted to be able to take her with me to my friends’ and boyfriend’s apartments.
“I had an extra purse sample from when I used to work in handbags, and it was kind of the perfect size for carrying a pigeon.
“I tried taking an Uber with her in the bag, and it worked surprisingly well.
“Plus, she obviously enjoyed looking out the window during the drive.”
From then, Abby – who is based in New York City – says she regularly started taking Pidge with her on her travels.
Abby said: “I became more comfortable bringing her with me out and about, including on the subway, and I think because this became normalised when she was so young, it’s not at all scary to her, similar to how you socialise a puppy.
“I keep bringing her out with me because it’s good enrichment for her and all my friends love seeing her.”
Abby recently posted a clip online, showing Pidge watching other pigeons attempting to eat from a pizza box in the park.
She said: “Pidge was clearly fascinated, but a little horrified, so we started filming her reactions.
“Because of her lifestyle, she has no concept of food scarcity, which made her reactions even funnier.”
The video, captioned “I think she prefers her lifestyle”, garnered more than 2 million views, 238,000 likes and over 900 comments.
One viewer joked that Pidge might ask of the other pigeons: “‘Where are their purses, mother?’”
A second wrote: “Bring her here once a week to humble her.”
A third person said: “Omg is the little bag her own matching purse?”
Another added:”’Dear mother, why are we stopping at the slums?’”
One viewer remarked: “She looks so healthy!!!”
And sixth viewer added: “That pigeon is living in different tax bracket”.
Of taking Pidge out like a pet dog, Abby noted: “She is so curious and excited to go to new places and meet people, and I really enjoy seeing her have such a good time.”
According to Abby, people “hardly ever notice” she has a pigeon with her, but when they do, she says “nearly everyone thinks it’s great”.
Abby added: “I did have one friend scream and run away the first time he met her, but within a few minutes he had changed his mind, decided he liked her, and decided he wanted to make her a tiny hat.”
The most shocking thing to Abby was finding out many other people have pet pigeons, too.
She said: “It isn’t something that usually comes up in conversation, but since bringing Pidge out with me, I fairly frequently meet people who grew up with a pigeon, used to have a pigeon, or have parents who had pigeons.
“Sometimes I get compliments on her good behavior and I feel like such a proud mom.
“On social media, I also get lots of comments about how healthy she looks – and she really is.”
Abby says caring to Pidge is fairly simple, and the pigeon is in great health.
She added: “She is so easy to take care of.
“Her diet is a pigeon seed mix and some calcium grit, with both always available to her.
“Multiple times a week, she takes a bath in a dish of water I leave out for her.
“She goes to an exotic vet that specialises in birds, and luckily her health has been great.
“When she was around six months old, she started laying eggs – they don’t hatch, she’s a single pigeon – and now every month she builds a nest and takes care of her eggs. It’s super sweet.”
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