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Some people claim that a dog is a man’s best friend. But if you ask my friend Dan, he would no doubt insist that man’s best friend is instead a pigeon. And Dan should know. Galileo the pigeon is his best friend.
It all started one morning when Dan grabbed his motorcycle helmet and headed out the door. As he strapped on the helmet, he was surprised to find that the seat of his motorcycle was already occupied. By a pigeon.
Dan shooed the pigeon away and headed to work. The pigeon followed him. It flew the entire way to Dan’s office at the university where he teaches science. Dan later looked up from his desk and glanced out his office window. Perched on the window ledge and staring at Dan with round orange eyes was the pigeon.
At the end of the day, Dan found the pigeon waiting for him on his motorcycle. The pigeon followed him all the way back home. And guess who was sitting on Dan’s motorcycle the next morning? That’s right. The pigeon.
 Unlikely as it may be, a friendship had been formed. Dan named the pigeon after a famous, long-ago scientist—Galileo. Galileo the scientist was fascinated by the sun. The people of his time thought the sun moved around the earth. They thought the earth was the center of our solar system. Galileo did not agree. He studied the sky using a telescope which let him see faraway stars, planets, and moons. Galileo found out that the earth, as well as the other planets, move around the sun. He realized that the sun is the center of our solar system.
Galileo the pigeon has something in common with Galileo the scientist. Pigeons think the sun is pretty important too. They study the sky. The position of the sun seems to help them figure out which direction they’re flying, especially on long flights. But what if it’s cloudy or dark? No problem for the pigeon. Bird experts think that pigeons can sense the earth’s magnetic fields. Like a compass. So if you ever get lost, just ask a pigeon.
You might be wondering how Galileo could fly fast enough to keep up with a motorcycle. Well, pigeons can actually fly about as fast as a motorcycle can go--up to forty or fifty miles per hour. And Galileo could keep a good eye on Dan because pigeons have amazing eye sight. They can even see ultraviolet light. That doesn’t exactly mean they have X-ray vision, but they can sure see a lot better than we can!
Galileo is not the first pigeon to become friends with a person, but it is unusual behavior for these birds, and it has the bird experts puzzled. Why have a few pigeons chosen to befriend us? It is a mystery yet to be solved.
Galileo continues to greet Dan each morning and follow him to and from work. He can often be seen preening himself outside Dan’s office window. Or strutting around on his pink feet until Dan is ready to leave for home. He likes to perch on Dan’s shoulder and eat bird seed right out of Dan’s hand.
So next time you see a pigeon, don’t be quick to shoo him away. Offer him a bit of bird seed. He just might become your new best friend.
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