Line #47 Main/HomelessPigeonPerson


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4	[[quoteright:308:[[Film/MaryPoppins https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary_poppins_bird_woman.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:308:Feed the birds, tuppence a bag...]]
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10
11	->''Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's\
12	The little old Bird Woman comes,\
13	In her own special way to the people she calls,\
14	"Come, buy my bags full of crumbs."''
15	-->-- '''"Feed the Birds"''', ''{{Film/Mary Poppins}}''
16
17	A homeless person with a loyal animal companion. Usually a clear signifier that they're a good guy and not one of the CrazyHomelessPeople. Note that this refers to all kinds of animal companions among the homeless. Pigeons, for whatever reason, are the most common.
18
19	Interestingly, even though [[PeskyPigeons pigeons are generally considered]] {{Feathered Fiend}}s by the populace at large (some cities have regulations against feeding them), most characters with pigeon friends are portrayed in a favorable light, or even as {{Homeless Hero}}es. Probably has something to do with helping the helpless.
20
21	CrazyCatLady is a far more negative portrayal, though [[CuteKitten cats are generally agreed to be fluffy and cute]]. Older female {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}}s can have a similar vibe to this pigeon trope but without the negativity of CrazyCatLady in terms of portrayal. Also see FriendToAllLivingThings, NatureLover and CrazyHomelessPeople.
22
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* The homeless man in ''ComicBook/{{We3}}''.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
33	* In the former alt-newspaper comic strip ''ComicStrip/PhoebeAndThePigeonPeople'' Phoebe was originally homeless.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Fan Works]]
37	* An odd variation occurs in Chapter 51 of ''[[Fanfic/BetweenDreamsAndMemoriesUniverse Between Heroes and Villains]]'', where Tommy befriends a seagull while in [[TheExile Exile]], and names her "Clementine" in the next chapter. Although seagulls are obviously not pigeons, they are also typically regarded as annoying and treated like pests.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
41	* ''Film/AStreetCatNamedBob'': James, a homeless man who lives in London, has an animal companion in the form of Bob, a stray cat who follows him around.
42	* That homeless pigeon-caretaker woman that Kevin [=McAllister=] befriends in ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork''.
43	* ''Film/MaryPoppins'' sings a song to Jane and Michael about the Bird Woman (providing both the page quote and the image), a poor old women who sells bread crumbs to feed the pigeons with on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. Later on in the movie, Mr. Banks prohibits them from buying birdfeed from her with the tuppence he was going to have them invest at the bank. [[spoiler:Close to the end, when Mr Banks soberly walks through London to the bank to be fired, he comes across the empty steps of the cathedral, with the heavy implication that she died, and that his children will never show kindness to her thanks to his callousness.]]
44	-->''"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,\
45	Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag!\
46	Feed the birds! That what she cries\
47	While overhead her birds fill the skies."''
48	* While he's not homeless, (if only because he lives in a one-room shack on a roof) the lead character in ''Film/GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai'' becomes known to the bad guys as "the ***ing bird man" cause he keeps pigeons.
49	* [[SubvertedTrope Subversion]]: Franz Liebkind, the crazy Nazi playwright from ''Film/TheProducers''. Here, the pigeons prove that he is one of the CrazyHomelessPeople beyond a reasonable doubt. Mainly because he uses them for his crazy Nazi hijinx.
50	* The Bowery King from ''Franchise/JohnWick''. Notable, in that he's a major crime lord of a syndicate consisting entirely of homeless agents.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Literature]]
54	* The title character from ''Literature/WizardOfThePigeons'', an UrbanFantasy novel by Creator/MeganLindholm.
55	* Mrs Tachyon, the [[spoiler:time-travelling]] bag lady from Creator/TerryPratchett's Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy, has a pet cat (only the one, so she avoids being a CrazyCatLady through a technicality). Mrs Tachyon is a fairly benevolent, though totally incoherent, character; the cat is pure evil.
56	%%* Old Bailey from ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.
57	* The protagonist of ''Literature/LikeWaterForChocolate'', Tita, goes through this phase after her mother sends her sister Rosaura and Pedro away, a move that results in the death of Tita's nephew, whom she had been breastfeeding because Rosaura had been unable to feed him. In her grief, Tita takes to living in the dove-cote and treating the doves as children.
58	* The Duck Man in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' appears to be an example of this trope. However, conversation will reveal that he is, or claims to be, completely unaware of the duck that gives him his name, despite the fact it's [[HeadPet on his head]].
59	* Merivel in {{Restoration}} by Rose Tremain could be seen as this by the rather non-sequitur end of the story - he has lost much, but at least the King has given him some pigeons in the house he once occupied.
60	* Blake Thorburn of ''Literature/{{Pact}}'' has mentioned that he fit this trope during the period in which he was homeless after running away from his BigScrewedUpFamily, which led him to get bird tattoos and influences his general [[AnimalMotifs bird motif]], which includes sharing the personality traits usually associated with birds, having a {{Familiar}} who takes the form of a sparrow, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick bleeding feathers when cut.]]
61	%%* ''Literature/FeralsSeries'':
62	%%** Crumb the pigeon feral.
63	%%** Caw the crow feral, in the first book at least.
64	* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' has Old Bailey, who lives with the birds and dresses like them too, although this variation also sells rooks and starlings at the market.
65	-->'''Old Bailey:''' Fine wise birds - tasty and wise!
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
69	* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': In "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS4E04 Corporation]]", Wojo brings in an old bag lady, who is either unable or unwilling to talk. Wojo thinks she might be a deaf-mute but Nick says he's seen her outside Cotterman's liquor store, talking about politics and current events.
70	-->'''Wojo''': With who?\
71	'''Yemana''': The pigeons.
72	* Claude from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. He basically walks a fine line between this and [[CrazyHomelessPeople Crazy Homeless Person]].
73	* There was a one-shot character on ''Series/ColdCase'' who had known and mentored the victim of the week and was your typical pigeon keeper. [[spoiler:He's like this due to depression caused by a mistake in his airplane design [[MyGreatestFailure leading to several accidental deaths]].]]
74	* Radek Zelenka from ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' reveals he's a major pigeon enthusiast and used to raise racing pigeons back on Earth.
75	* One of [[Series/TheCarolBurnettShow Carol Burnett's]] recurring characters is an old lady who goes to the park to feed the pigeons.
76	-->'''Pigeon Lady:''' Here, pidgie, pidgie, pidgie . . . .
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Video Games]]
80	* Beggar Crazy Clara in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' has a pet that denies biological definition and that Zoe has to rescue from Azadi to get Clara to tell her some plot-relevant stuff.
81	* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': The Topsy King qualifies, being the [[CloudCuckoolander very, very odd]] KingOfTheHomeless in London, who never goes anywhere without his bat on his shoulder.
82	* One of the zombie types in ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies 3'' is based off these, although portrayed in a more negative light thanks to being an enemy. He periodically throws bread around him to summon a ZergRush of fast-but-weak [[AirborneMook Zombie Pigeons]] to swarm your plants.
83	* ''VideoGame/RWBYArrowfell: Moss lives in a cave that he believes is a town that he's mayor of. His sole companion is a goshawk he first encountered in the Tumak Ruins, and has been looking after ever since. His task for Team RWBY to complete is to find and bring home the missing bird.
84	* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' features a homeless pigeon man in a side quest in which you have to help him recover some of his pigeons.
85	* [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Senor Cardgage]] is mentioned to be one of these in ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople: 8-Bit Is Enough'' after Trogdor goes on a rampage.
86	-->'''Strong Bad:''' You can usually find Senor Cardgage reading to the pigeons behind here, but now there's just all these burnt chicken bones. I guess Trogdor must've scared them-- Ohhh...
87	* In ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', Nanba's unique [[JobSystem "Homeless Guy" job]] can summon pigeons to attack his enemies. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwQDurClFhk Essence of Pigeon Migration]] summons a ''massive'' flock of them.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
91	* The leper Luca in ''VisualNovel/TheFountain'' cares for Rome's pigeons because, like him, they're outcasts. And if no one cares about him, the least he can do is care about the pigeons. Witnessing this is the first step in Areanna falling in love with Luca. And later, the favor Luca has earned with the pigeons is why for generations they keep Areanna's LivingStatue company.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Web Comics]]
95	* The aptly named Pigeon Man from [[http://transientman.com/index.php Transient Man.]] Not a heroic example, though. Most [[TheWormThatWalks definitely]] not. Might better fit the description of [[CrazyCatLady Homicidal Pigeon Person]].
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Western Animation]]
99	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' has a "pigeon man" living on a rooftop, with some elaborate cages containing hundreds of pigeons. At the end of the episode, he actually flies away carried by his birds.
100	* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' Fagin is a homeless guy in New York who lives with a pack of dogs, and eventually takes Oliver the kitten in.
101	* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', where a destitute old woman feeds some crows, then pounces on one to eat it.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Real Life]]
105	* TruthInTelevision: Near the end of his life, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla took to moving between hotels and keeping large flocks of pigeons.
106	* Creator/MikeTyson isn't homeless or crazy (though he ''does'' have medications for anger management), but he's been involved in breeding and racing pigeons competitively for years since retiring from boxing.
107	* Pigeon keeping, while traditionally a hobby of the wealthy, is also popular in inner-city areas where pigeon coops are often built at the tops of apartment buildings.
108	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HomelessPigeonPerson