Saturday, 3 October 2026

Pigeon feeders in 1950s Moscow and the decision to cull the birds after the youth festival

Pigeon feeders in 1950s Moscow and the decision to cull the birds after the youth festival

In the 1950s, Moscow was full of pigeon feeders like this one in Sokolniki. One could come across a sign in the city reading “Caution, pigeons!”. But a couple of years after thousands of pigeons were released at the opening of the World Festival of Youth and Students, there turned out to be far too many birds in Moscow, and a decision was taken to begin exterminating them.

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