The Pigeon Movie Database intrepidly charts the activity of pigeons in cinema
'It is not nice for a pigeon to fly in the darkness and it is ever worse, if it is flying in the middle of a violent duel.’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.What on Earth is this?
A blog that gives in-depth analyses of pigeons in popular films.
Why in the hell?
Two reasons:
‘To provide a summary about pigeon appearances in movies and series and an analysis of why they are used.’
‘To claim the inclusion of pigeons in movie credits. Nowadays, the use of uncredited animals in movies that produce profits of millions of dollars should be unthinkable. In some movies, dogs or other big mammals are credited but I think that it ought to be extended to other kinds of animals... like pigeons.’
What films have been covered?
The Matrix, Moonraker, Safe House, Forrest Gump, Eat Pray Love, Akira and many, many more, though sadly the blog hasn’t been updated recently.
Give me an example.
The Predator 2 entry is pretty special:
‘This is a nice picture of the pigeon, captured with its legs and tail feathers fully extended. This situation is also dramatic for Dorinda. It is not nice for a pigeon to fly in the darkness and it is ever worse, if it is flying in the middle of a violent duel.’
• Relevance: Low. Pigeons interfere with a human-alien duel, but they don't change the storyline.
• Training level: High. It is not easy for a pigeon to fly with poor light conditions. Here, they exhibit a very good performance.’
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments