Mike Tyson's lifelong bond with pigeons, from bullied Brooklyn boy to keeper of 1,000 birds

Mike Tyson, who found comfort in pigeons as a bullied Brooklyn child, still keeps hundreds of the birds across the US, with his own 2025 estimate suggesting up to 1,000. Tyson has described pigeons as his first loving relationship, crediting them with helping him escape childhood pressures. He also says his first fight occurred after a bully killed one of his birds, an account he has repeated over the years. His lifelong passion has expanded into competitive homing-pigeon racing, featured in a 2011 Animal Planet series, though PETA has criticised the sport. Tyson now keeps birds in California, New Jersey, Florida and Las Vegas.