Pigeon fanciers include well-known people as well as ordinary keepers. These are seven famous pigeon fanciers from the past and present.
1. Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II’s love of horses and corgis is well documented, but she was also a big fan of pigeons. The royal lofts date back to 1886, and King Charles III has kept the tradition going.
She was said to own around 200 pigeons, kept in the royal lofts at Sandringham in Norfolk.
The Queen’s relationship with pigeons was not without controversy, though.
Her Majesty’s pigeons were frequently entered in races.
In 2020, 8 of her pigeons were reportedly sent to compete in one of the world’s richest one-loft races, the South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race (SAMDPR) also known as the Olympics of pigeon racing.
Upon arrival in South Africa, all birds at risk of spreading diseases have to undergo a 30-day quarantine period.
Unfortunately none of the Queen’s pigeons survived the quarantine period. (opens in new tab)
Press reports also claimed that only 5 of the 42 pigeons that the Queen sent to South Africa over the last six years survived.
2. Mike Tyson
Former heavyweight boxing champion of the world known as ‘the baddest man on the planet’ allegedly once knocked out a garbage man for throwing away one of his pet pigeons that had died.
Whether or not that particular story is true Mike Tyson’s love affair with pigeons is well documented.
Over the years he has kept a great many pigeons, starting with rooftop lofts in New York.
Tysons relationship with pigeons goes back to when he was just 9 years old.
In fact, his first-ever fight was over a pigeon.
Tyson had told his friends that he had a pigeon living in his room.
News spread and soon ‘friends’ were visiting him to try and steal the bird.
Someone finally did manage to steal the bird and sadly the bird died in their hands which led to Tyson fighting the individual responsible.
3. George Foreman
Mike Tyson isn’t the only former heavy weight boxing champion of the world to enjoy pigeons.
Foreman (1949–2025), who became a Christian minister and promoted his hugely successful George Foreman grills, was known to enjoy keeping pigeons.
He loved the idea of pigeons, the freedom that they represented, how when you let them go they come back to you.
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4. Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla is an engineer best known for his contributions to the design of the alternating current (AC).
What is less well documented is his love of pigeons.
He used to visit the parks every day to feed pigeons he also fed them at his hotel window and frequently would nurse injured pigeons back to good health.
He once spent over $2,000 to care for a bird while her broken wing and leg healed.
Tesla, who never married, also claimed he had once fallen in love with a pigeon.
He said: “I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years.
But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different.
It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me.
I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me.
As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.”
Tesla Universe (opens in new tab)
5. Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso grew up around pigeons and spent a lot of time painting pigeons over the course of his life.
Picasso’s father, José Ruiz Blasco, kept rock pigeons and spent a lot of time painting them himself and teaching Pablo how to do the same.
This love of pigeons stuck with Pablo throughout his life.
When he was in school he would spend entire classes sketching and would even occasionally bring a pigeon into school to draw.
Later in life, much of his work depicts balcony views featuring pigeons.
6. Walt Disney
Disneyland in California is said to have kept large numbers of pigeons in the 1960s for its shows.
Walt Disney World in Florida is also said to have had a pigeon loft.
According to fanciers, the Disney lofts were later closed because of hawk attacks which was obviously distressing for visitors to witness not to mention distressing for the pigeons themselves!
Walt Disney is also said to have sponsored the California State Racing Pigeon Organization resulting in their pigeon flying award being given the name ‘The Disney Award’.
His TV series Walt Disney Presents also aired The Pigeon That Worked a Miracle (1958), an episode about a boy in a wheelchair who raises a racing pigeon. It was loosely based on Thomas Liggett’s book Pigeon Fly Home, and the National Pigeon Association later gave Disney an award for it.
7. Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys was a famed diarist who gave us a first-hand insight into the great fire of London and what life was like in the 1600s.
His diary frequently mentions pigeons with one entry talking about how scorched pigeons were falling out of the sky during the great fire of London.
Pepys commentaries and observations about pigeons over the years show that they caught his attention, although it is hard to say how much he loved them.
Last updated 31 October 2026 · Facts