Upload a photo of a pigeon and our panel of entirely imaginary judges will give it a proper show-style scorecard: chonk, neck shimmer, attitude and four more categories, an overall mark out of 10, a prize card and a title to go with it. You can download the card or share it. The judging happens in your browser, so your photo stays on your device unless you decide to send it to us.
How the scoring works
This is not AI, and it doesn’t know what a pigeon is. When you add a photo, your browser shrinks a copy to 64 × 64 pixels and measures a few simple things: how much green and purple it contains, how bright and contrasty it is, how much fine texture there is, and how the middle of the picture compares with the edges. Your answers about what the bird was up to and where you met it add bonus points in some categories. A seed taken from the pixels decides the rest.
The same photo with the same answers always gets the same scorecard, so re-rolling won’t help. And the judges are not fussy: a photo of a croissant will get marks too.
What the judges are looking for
- Chonk. How round the bird looks. A feral pigeon weighs about 230 to 370 g (RSPB (opens in new tab)), but one fluffed up against the cold can look far bigger. Our guide to why pigeons puff up explains what is going on.
- Neck shimmer. The green and purple on a pigeon’s neck is not pigment. It comes from a thin layer of keratin in the feathers that reflects light like a soap bubble. See why pigeons have green and purple necks.
- Attitude. The stare, the swagger, the refusal to move for a bike.
- Strut. Pigeons bob their heads as they walk. For part of each step the head stays still in space while the body catches up, which keeps the view steady for the eyes (Troje & Frost (2000) (opens in new tab)).
- Floof. How fluffy and well kept the feathers look.
- Camera presence. Light, framing, and whether the bird looks as if it knew you were there.
- Snack radar. Readiness to find a chip within ten seconds of anyone opening a packet.
The overall mark decides the prize card: Best in Show (9.3 and over), First, Second and Third Prize, then Highly Commended and Commended. Highly Commended and Commended are real awards at pigeon shows, given after the numbered places.
How real pigeon shows judge birds
Real show judges don’t give points for chonk. At fancy pigeon shows each breed is judged against a written standard for shape, colour, markings and condition, and in some breeds a neck sheen even counts as a fault: the Ice pigeon standard is one example. Our guide to pigeon shows in the UK and US covers the big events, including the British Homing World Show of the Year at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, next held on 16 and 17 January 2027.
Once your pigeon has a title, it may need a name to match. Try our pigeon name generator, or browse our own pigeon photos.
Photo licence and privacy
Scoring your pigeon happens on your device. Your photo only reaches us if you tick the three boxes and press “Send my photo”. If you do:
- Licence. You keep the copyright. You give pigeonpedia.com a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, crop, publish and share the photo on pigeonpedia.com, in our newsletter and on our social media accounts, credited to the name you give us (or without a credit if you leave it blank).
- Your own photo, no faces. You must have taken the photo yourself, and it must not show anyone’s face. We reject and delete photos that show people’s faces or that aren’t the sender’s own.
- Checked first. Nothing is published automatically. We look at every photo first, and we may not use yours.
- What we keep. The photo (saved again without its camera and location data), your credit name and email if you give them, the site language, the date and time, the consent wording you agreed to, and a scrambled form of your IP address that we use to block spam. We delete photos we don’t use within two years.
- Removal. Email hello@pigeonpedia.com with the reference number shown after sending and we’ll delete the photo and stop using it.
- Under 13? Ask a parent or carer to send the photo for you.
More detail is in our privacy policy.
Questions
Is this AI?
No. The scores come from simple measurements of the photo’s colours, brightness and texture plus your answers. Nothing checks whether the bird is a pigeon, and nothing is sent anywhere to be analysed.
Is my photo uploaded when I get my scorecard?
No. Your browser does the judging, and the card is drawn on your device. The photo only reaches us if you tick the three boxes and press “Send my photo”. A shared link carries the scores and the pigeon’s name after the # in the web address, not the photo.
What happens to photos I send?
They go into a private queue that only the Pigeonpedia team can see. We look at every photo before anything is published, and we may not use yours. Photos that show people’s faces, or that the sender didn’t take, are deleted.
Can I have my photo removed?
Yes. Email hello@pigeonpedia.com with the reference number you got after sending, and we’ll delete it.
Does it work for doves, woodpigeons or fancy breeds?
Yes. The judges score any bird, and our guide to types of pigeon in the UK can help you work out which one you met.
The pigeon in my photo looks unwell. What should I do?
A pigeon that sits fluffed up and won’t move, or can’t fly, may need help. Our guide on what to do if you find an injured pigeon takes you through it step by step.