Downtown Boston tour

On our Downtown Boston Pigeon Tour, meet the pigeons of Downtown Crossing and Boston Common.

Your guide will bring you around the area, observing pigeons looking for food and nesting spots, and interacting with people.

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What you’ll do

Photo by Daniel Bernard on Unsplash

We’ll start the tour at a local memorial statue, where we’ll teach birdwatching and binocular skills.
Next, we’ll walk through Downtown Crossing. We’ll observe pigeons and how they interact with people and with the built environment, and we’ll talk about pigeon history and domestication.
Next, we’ll stop by Boston Common, and get a closer look at the wide variety of pigeon colors and patterns.
Lastly, we’ll circle back to our starting point for wrap-up and Q&A, and final close-up pigeon observation.

What to expect

Duration

This tour lasts 1½ hours. Out of respect for your time, we aim to start and end the tour right on time.

Distance

0.75 miles / 1.25 km

Meetup location

We meet near the Boston Irish Famine Memorial Statue, 24 School St. The tour ends at the same location.

Accessibility

Sidewalks in this neighborhood are relatively even, but streets may have gradual inclines. We are not aware of permanent obstacles to wheelchairs or other mobility devices along our route. Unexpected obstacles (like construction) may occur, but we’ll route around them.

If you have specific mobility needs or questions, please get in touch and we’ll work to meet your needs.

Restrooms

There are a number of businesses near our meeting / ending point that may have restrooms.

Food and water

The area around the meeting / ending point has cafes, restaurants, and convenience stores.

Public transportation

The meeting / ending point is located near multiple MBTA (“T”) stations, including:

Red Line: Park Street

Orange Line: Downtown Crossing, State

Green Line: Park Street, Government Center.

Parking

There are a number of nearby paid parking garages.

We’re not familiar with parking in this area, so we’re refraining from making recommendations.

What to bring

Pigeon tours are rain-or-shine — just like pigeons — so make sure to be prepared.

Weather-appropriate clothes and footwear
Sun protection, including sunscreen, sunglasses, maybe a hat.
Water
Cash (or Venmo) if you’d like to tip your guide
Your binoculars, if you have a pair you like

If you don’t have your own binoculars, no worries — you can borrow one of our loaner pairs!