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Join us for pigeon-focused urban birding tours in Philly and New York!Great for all ages, and perfect for locals and tourists alike.
"South Philly's hottest new excursion"
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"warm, engaging, and endlessly informative"
- reviewer on TripAdvisor
What is a pigeon tour?
It's a 90-minute walking tour that'll leave you thinking differently about your closest bird neighbors — pigeons. (Obviously.)On the tour, you'll observe pigeons and learn all about their behaviors, biology, and history.You'll learn the ups and downs of the relationship between humans and pigeons — and you might even see a baby pigeon!Tourists will experience a new city from a unique perspective, while locals will get to see familiar neighborhoods in a new light.
A pigeon comes in for a landing during a Nov 2025 tour. Photo by Steve Denisevicz, Boncreate.com
On a pigeon tour, you'll learn...
birdwatching technique, including how to use binoculars like a pro
how people and pigeons have related throughout history (it's mostly been pretty positive!)
how our relationship with pigeons has become so negative in recent years, and what our future relationship might look like
why you never see baby pigeons — they're all around, but hard to identify!
what different pigeon behaviors mean
pigeon biology, genetics, breeds, and colors
how we're connected to the wider ecosystem
Our story
Philly Pigeon Tours was started by Aspen Simone and HM Brower.A few years ago, they adopted their pet pigeon Primrose — long story, you'll hear it on the tour — and they became quite interested in pigeons.They put together Philly Pigeon Tours to help people see "the pigeon layer", the world of pigeons that we mostly ignore as we go about our lives.They hope that, after a Pigeon Tour, you won't see pigeons the same way again.
Primrose the pigeon. Photo by Aspen Simone
What to expect on a tour
When you sign up, we'll send you an email with tour-specific details about accessibility, parking, and what to bring.Here's some general information about what you can expect on a typical tour.
Accessibility
Tours involve about a mile of walking. We choose routes that are easy to travel, but unexpected obstacles may occur.If you have specific mobility needs or questions, please get in touch and we'll work to meet your needs.
Transportation
Our tours are held in locations walkable from public transportation.In Philly, tours are located near 2-hour free street parking or paid parking, and the tours are 90 minutes so you have some buffer.When you register, location-specific transportation and parking advice will be sent to you.
What to bring
Pigeon tours are rain-or-shine — just like pigeons.Please wear weather-appropriate clothes, footwear, and sun protection. We also recommend bringing some water.If you have your own binoculars, we recommend bringing them! If you don't, we have a few loaner pairs to share.If you plan to tip your guide, you may want to bring cash. (We take Venmo too.)
Contact us
If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to get in touch!
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Philly Pigeon Tours
Ah, Philadelphia — the birthplace of Pigeon Tours. Join us for tours in the Italian Market, West Philly, and Old City (coming soon).
"South Philly's hottest new excursion"
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
Italian Market tour
On our Italian Market Pigeon Tour, meet the pigeons of the historic Italian Market on South 9th St.Your guide will bring you around the market, visiting nearby flocks and nesting sites. You'll observe pigeons nesting above the market's unique shops, defying anti-pigeon spikes and netting, and boldly strolling through traffic.
What you'll do
We'll start the tour at a local cat café, where we'll teach useful birdwatching skills. (Nothing says "cat energy" like watching birds.)
Next, we'll visit an established flock along Washington Ave, and witness all types of pigeons and behaviors. Sometimes we even see a hawk or falcon chasing them!
We'll visit a nesting site. Depending on the season, we may see baby or juvenile pigeons!
We'll walk up 9th St, observing pigeons braving traffic, nesting in buildings, and snoozing on signs and ledges.
West Philly tour
On our West Philly Pigeon Tour, meet the pigeons of this beloved neighborhood.We'll visit a roaming pigeon flock, search for nesting sites under the L, and if we have time, we may visit a secret bird sanctuary!
Old City tour
Old City tours start in April 2026!Check the website in February, or click the button below to send us an email, and we'll notify you when Old City tours start!(We'll only email you to notify you — we won't put your address into a list or use it for any other reason.)
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New York Pigeon Tours
Ah, New York — America's most pigeon-populated city. You'll never see pigeons the same way again. Manhattan tours just started, Brooklyn tours coming soon.
"Amazing experience. I have a new love for pigeons."
- reviewer on TripAdvisor
"The crowds keep flocking"
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
Manhattan tour
A pigeon comes in for a landing during a Nov 2025 tour. Photo by Steve Denisevicz, Boncreate.com
On our Manhattan Pigeon Tour, meet the pigeons of the High Line.Your guide will bring you around Chelsea, visiting established flocks and nesting sites. You'll observe pigeons nesting, dodging traffic, and defying anti-pigeon spikes.
We currently have tours scheduled through March 2026, and we'll be adding more tours in the future. Click the button below to send us an email, and we'll let you know when we add more New York tour dates!
What you'll do
We'll start the tour on the High Line, where we'll teach techniques for getting comfortable using binoculars.
Next, we'll visit an established flock and observe all types of pigeons and behaviors. We may even see a hawk or falcon on the hunt!
Lastly, we'll visit a nesting site. Depending on the season, we may get lucky and see baby or juvenile pigeons!
Brooklyn tour
We hope to start offering a Brooklyn tour soon.If you want to express your interest (which will encourage us to do it), click the button below to send us an email. We'll then notify you when Brooklyn tours start!(We'll only email you to notify you — we won't put your address into a list or use it for any other reason.)
Wait... it's Philly pigeon tours, but in New York?
We started as Philly Pigeon Tours, not expecting these tours to catch on. But they did.And we like New York, and y'all have great pigeons, so we decided to do them here too.But, we don't want to take "Philly" out of the name.You know what they say — you can take the Pigeon Tours out of Philly, but you can't take the Philly out of the Pigeon Tours.
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Private tours and programs
We offer private tours for events and retreats, as well as educational programs for schools & youth.
Request a tour date
If you were looking for a tour on a specific day, but there's no tour scheduled, we invite you to email us and request that we add a tour.If we think we can fill a tour on your requested date, we'll add it to the public tour schedule — and we'll notify you so you can be the first to snag tickets.This option can be less expensive than a private group tour.
Private tours
We offer private tours for groups up to 40 people.We've had people schedule private tours to celebrate a birthday, host a business retreat, or as a birding club outing.Standard pricing
Our standard private tour pricing is $25 per person, with a minimum based on the day of the week.Weekdays (Monday through Friday): $125 minimum
Weekends (Saturday and Sunday): $300 minimumGift economy pricing
We understand that our pricing may be out of reach for homeschool groups, birding clubs, and other non-profit groups with less of a budget.In these cases, we use a gift economy model.If you know that standard pricing is out of reach, please email us with an offer that works for your budget, and also supports our program. While considering your offer, please keep in mind that this is one of our main sources of income.
School & youth programs
Bring Philly Pigeon Tours to your school or community event!Our co-founders and guides have backgrounds in natural sciences, human geography, birding, and more, so we can tailor educational programs to your students' interests or curriculum. Or we can offer a pre-packaged program.Topics for school and youth programs include (but are not limited to):• Building empathy
• Evolution, adaptations, and domestication
• Ecological literacy, urban ecology, and biomimicry
• Urban and natural geography
• Pigeon-human relationships throughout history
• Building a brighter futureEmail us to connect about school & youth programs.
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