Visitors are flocking to Philadelphia’s pigeon-filled neighborhoods on 90-minute tours
A new kind of city tour
Hannah Michelle Brower and her partner, Aspen Simone, started Philly Pigeon Tours to take visitors through what they call “pigeony areas in the neighborhood.” The 90-minute experience answers questions about pigeons, including why they face the same direction. TripAdvisor ranks the tour as the third most popular in Philadelphia. Simone explained that pigeons face into the wind because their feathers lie smoothly from front to back.
A rescue changed her outlook
Brower once disliked pigeons. Four years ago, she found one that appeared sick or injured and cared for it until it recovered. She named the pigeon Primrose and says she fell in love with it. Primrose is now fully domesticated, enjoys baths and being petted, and gets blowouts.
Learning to pay attention
Brower says she and Simone regularly find pigeons in their apartment, a situation she describes as absurd. But the tours are about more than enjoying the birds. Brower sees the walks as a way for people to become curious about something they encounter every day. She told CBS News that city residents may have seen pigeons many times without learning to pay attention to them.
Key points
- Philly Pigeon Tours takes visitors to pigeon-filled areas of Philadelphia.
- The 90-minute tour ranks third in the city on TripAdvisor.
- Brower says rescuing Primrose four years ago changed her view of pigeons.
- The tour encourages people to notice familiar things with curiosity.