TL;DR..?
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2026
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evidence from a single study suggests pigeons may not be wired to repeat behaviors that have rewarded them previously, instead opting to try new behaviors
Thank you!
And IMO that would be an exceedingly strange takeaway as I see it in general, pigeons being some classic Pavlovian-exhibiting animals as it were. So then, perhaps what's being suggested here is that they're more exploratory and exhibit much more free will and unpredictability than previously imagined..?
Or something like that?
Something like that. I think the study wasn't designed/interpreted well to demonstrate variable behavior.
They presented the pigeons with 5 differently colored buttons. 5 button presses of any color in any order would dispense a food reward.
The pigeons continued to press random buttons and get their food. The researchers argued that since the pigeons didn't press the same sequence every time, or the same button 5 times in a row, that this demonstrates they prefer to try new behaviors rather than stick with ones they know result in a reward.
I think they might be giving the pigeons too much credit, intelligence-wise... but I'm kind of a pigeon hater so I'm severely biased lol
5 button presses of any color in any order would dispense a food reward.
With rules like that, I don't understand why you would expect the pigeons to repeat the same sequence. Of course, this is yet another study that shouldn't have even made it through peer review.
They thought the pigeons would develop a favourite button or a favourite pattern. But the pigeons prefer variety over favourites.
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Did they have a control group where the colors did matter? If there was never a condition of it mattering, why would anyone vary the presses, unless they just liked pressing red a lot, or the easier to reach buttons, or something else. Seems like an experiment that had already determined the result.
Well, it does tend to happen with rats/monkeys/people.
If 5 buttons all work the same way, you just hit whichever one is closest or whatever, over and over again. You spam it, hit it as fast as you can.
I can wake up my computer by hitting any key, I have something like 50 keys to choose from, I click the mouse every time.
Yeah it seems that probably pigeons didn't know what worked or didn't work and since they never got a wrong answer after 5 button pushes, nothing mattered. Did they push the buttons faster?
nothing mattered
So pigeons are both chaotic AND nihilistic !
Also wouldn't that mean that pigeons wouldn't be trainable with treats?
I have a friend who trains WILD pigeons with food, so... doubt
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I think they've only found that pigeons can't count to 5
takeaway: pigeons are wild in the sack
The prisoner experiment, the marshmallow test, now the pigeon experiments of the Skinner Box. Which psychology experiment will stand the test of time?
Or in layman's terms, pigeons are completely stupid.
Unless they just find pushing the different buttons more fun than pushing the same button 5 times. "haha buttons go brrrrrr"
Pigeons prefer to switch up the way they perform useful behaviours.
Researchers know that rewarding a behaviour makes it more frequent, and they assumed it also makes behaviours more consistent. But they tried it with pigeons, and pigeons prefer to do the rewarded behaviour in lots of different ways. They like changing up their strategy for getting treats.
They think this might not be unique to pigeons, so they're gonna try it with some other animals next.
Speaking anecdotally, I prefer to use a variety of different Go openings over the same one again and again.
they are making sure we know they arent an NPC
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As articles go, this isn't a long one, just saying.
It is paywalled though.
Disable JavaScript. Loads fine.
I have a terminal disease, with my focus & energy being pretty much the first things impacted. I did appreciate a couple folks above who seemed to be in the know doing their best to explain, which wound up opening the conversation for others.
So... just sayin' that, too.
There’s one that lives near my house. Initially i felt bad always seeing it alone. However as time passes I can confirm it is definitely an agent of chaos: randomly crashing into the dogs’ pool and bird bath at full speed, sending the grackles, finches and sparrows flying, and making “nests” in the dumbest places possible such as the window sill near our front door when it’s terrified of us. It somehow laid an egg in our mailbox that is always closed. The other birds give it a very wide berth any time it lands near them, and now i think I understand why.
I feel this as a Millennial. Being able to adapt to change is at the core of our existence. Since pigeons live in cities where they take whatever opportunities arise, I'm not terribly surprised they are willing to try new things and see what happens. Similarly, I feel like if I didn't get used to chaotic change, modern life would be impossible to navigate.
It's funny, though, that pigeons refuse to be "pigeonholed" into one way of doing things.
This sounds like what a pigeon would say.
So...how you do feel about bread crumbs?
It's all fun and games until the pigeons start vibe coding and taking human jobs.
The original paper is also open access and a fairly accessible read! https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-47688-001
Me too, pigeon.
What would happen if you were placed in a cubicle and money appeared when you pressed the 5 button combination?
I know I would attempt other combinations. Even if I was told the right combination from the beginning.
The money keeps coming every time, and the payment is clearly an acceptable cost, so there are obviously a lot more money available.
It's not that I'm greedy. I'm just not happy being fed only a trickle of the potential.
sounds like they've mastered... 
pigeon pulls out a gun
Oh no!
All right
Chili dogs!
Same
with no selection pressure, they can become "Stupider: since people drop refuse and scraps for them to feed off of, plus next to no threats from birds of prey in cities.
Let me introduce you to the peregrine falcon
You'll notice their range includes essentially everywhere on earth, though they really thrive in cities.
Due to their greater abundance in cities than most other birds, feral pigeons support many peregrine populations as a staple food source, especially in urban settings.
The peregrine is a highly successful example of urban wildlife in much of its range, taking advantage of tall buildings as nest sites, and an abundance of prey such as pigeons and ducks.
DDT really did a number on urban avian predators; it gets concentrated up the food chain and then the eggs of birds become too fragile.
I haven't checked in for a few years, but I think New York City was making efforts to reintroduce them.
And it's funny to me to have an environmental initiative largely motivated by "something needs to be killing all these fucking pigeons."
they mostly remediated that at least for wild birds eggs.
Pigeons are domesticated animals that humans abandoned. Of course they’re dependent on human trash - just like stray dogs and cats are.
Even seagulls eat pidgeons
There is still plenty of selection pressure. However, there has been even more artificial selection. Darwin was actually fascinated by domestic pigeons and studied them intensively https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3288640/
Peck peck peck peck peck.
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