Today is National Pigeon Appreciation Day. Here's 3 reasons why you should care

Pigeons get a bad rap in big cities such as Austin.

They're often called "rats with wings" and viewed as a nuisance, but there's much more to the birds than meets the eye. And what better time to address our collective misconception of pigeons than on National Pigeon Appreciation Day?

The special day is celebrated every year on June 13, the day a famous World War I pigeon named Cher Ami died in 1919. Here are three reasons why you should care about National Pigeon Appreciation Day:

1. Pigeons aren't pests

Pigeons may make some noise and scatter some poop, but they're not exactly the disgusting vermin so many people think they are. They don't even have a significant track record of spreading disease.

According to a 2016 article from the National Audubon Society, a "New York City health official had linked two deaths to diseases carried by pigeons," but "neither the New York Department of Health nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could confirm any cases of people getting sick from casual interactions with the birds." The CDC also added that "people and pigeons rarely interact in ways in which the birds could make us sick."

The idea that pigeons are dirty and disease-ridden seemed to rise in 1966, the Audubon article claimed, when a park commissioner in New York City called the birds "rats with wings." That's when, apparently unfairly and unjustly, "pigeons were explicitly linked to disorder and disease."

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2. Pigeons have been a big help to humans

From wartime to mail time to commerce to photography, pigeons have served humans in a variety of ways.

Take, for example, the aforementioned Cher Ami, who served in the U.S. Army Signal Corp's Pigeon Service in World War I. According to the Smithsonian, the pigeon delivered a message in 1918 with the location of trapped men known as the Lost Battalion, saving their lives.

The claim that the heroic bird in question was Cher Ami came from Capt. John L. Carney of the Pigeon Service. It's actually possible that another bird delivered the Lost Battalion message, according to the Smithsonian. Still, "it is certain Cher Ami delivered critical messages from the battlefield in the fall of 1918," the Smithsonian stated.

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3. Pigeons and doves are practically one-and-the-same

Doves are seen as a beautiful symbol of peace and love while pigeons are hated and even abused. But pigeons and doves are actually equals on a scientific level, as they both come from the Columbidae family of birds, according to animal encyclopedia website AZ Animals.

While there are differences between doves and pigeons, such as that pigeons are larger, "there is absolutely no scientific difference between doves and pigeons," AZ Animals stated. One Columbidae family bird is even interchangeably called the rock dove, rock pigeon and common pigeon.

The rock pigeon is the kind of bird that often comes to mind when people hear "pigeon." They live in Austin, New York and other cities.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Today is National Pigeon Appreciation Day. Here's why you should care