Faster than a Steeler or Buccaneer, a flock of pigeons stayed in the game Sunday

A herd of 200-plus-pound men running around Acrisure Stadium on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was no match for a flock of pigeons.

In case some fans were concerned about the birds’ persistent boldness, they did not impact the game, said Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten.

Pigeons have visited football fields before, including a 2018 game between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs and a 2012 Oakland Raiders game, where the crowd rooted for the pigeons.

As the Steelers delivered a 20-18 victory Sunday, the total tonnage of the teams thundering down the field didn’t faze the flock of rock pigeons intent on eating freshly planted grass seed.

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— NFL (@NFL) October 16, 2022

The birds also took to the field for the Pitt football game against Virginia Tech on Oct. 8 at Acrisure Stadium, according to The Pitt News.

Weighing only 9 to 13 ounces, according to Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, the rock pigeons were anything but skittish at Acrisure Stadium. They comfortably settled in, even with officials shooing them several times Sunday.

“Pigeons are used to dodging 18-wheeler trucks going down a road,” said Jonathan Rice, urban bird conservation coordinator for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, who has been studying the relationship between birds and the urban landscape for 6½ years.

Part of the pigeon’s ability to linger just out of harm’s way is their incredible flight strength, he said.

Pigeons are fast flyers, with estimated flight speeds of 15 to 35 mph. Trained pigeons have been clocked up to 97 mph, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

“Pigeons are very fast, and homing pigeons were used during World War I to carry important, secret military messages,” Rice said.

Homing pigeons can find their home loft from 1,000 miles away and fly some 500 miles in a day, said Charles Walcott, a Cornell University professor emeritus and former director of its Lab of Ornithology.

“Pigeons are remarkable animals,” he said.

“They are very sensitive to changes in pressure; they can tell the difference from floor to ceiling,” he said.

Pigeons have become accustomed to being around people.

“These birds live in tune with urban landscapes and people,” Rice said. “They associate food with humans.”

There was, indeed, plenty of food for the birds at Acrisure Stadium. The field recently was reseeded and resodded between the numbers, Lauten said.

Said Rice: “These birds have learned not to be afraid of people.”