Pigeon baiting

I was given a taxidermied pigeon from @lukehelliwell after its starring role in a photo shoot.

Curious to see how the live pigeons would react to it I decided to reunite pigeon with its friends at Hyde Park. Here’s what happened.

^ Pigeons first introduction to his friends at the park

^ An edited version at high speed. Pigeon gets mauled by a dog and scares a child…

So it seemed to me that at the start the other pigeons were too busy foraging and the swarm of birds arriving too frenetic for any of them to be particularly bothered by “Pige-God” however after this initial furore they approached cautiously and appear to sense that there was something not quite right about this one. In the first video you can see the other pigeons crane their necks and back up a little (1:37) after initially rushing for the bread. Ultimately though they didn’t really care and just wanted food.

If any ethologists happen across this post I’d be interested in a more scientific explanation. Also if there is anybody with mad animatronic skills that can help me 2.0 Pige-God do get in touch.