Pigeons spread their wings above the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City.

These pigeons were raised by locals after the H5N1 influenza epidemic in 2005.

"After the flu passed, about 15, 20 pigeons came here to the cathedral. We locals feel for them and feed them daily. The birds have grown closer with the people, and their number has skyrocketed to over 700 now," said 40-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Quang Thanh, a street vendor near the cathedral.

Thanh also sells beans to tourists to feed the pigeons.

Thanh feeds a pigeon with beans in her hand.

"The birds consume dozens of kilograms of beans and grains every day. Due to the high costs, I decided to sell bird food to tourists to feed the pigeons. Each box of food costs VND10,000 (44 cents)," she said.

"We train them to fly up and down every 10-15 minutes to avoid being captured by humans," she said. In Vietnam, pigeon meat is considered a delicacy.

Passersby feed the pigeons.

"I've been to Thailand before and there were also pigeons living in a pagoda there. But they didn't fly as beautifully as Saigon's pigeons," said Nguyen Thi Ngan, a tourist from Hanoi.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saigon was established by the French in 1880. The building, which is currently under renovation, has two bell towers and is 58-meter (190 feet) high.

Source: VnExpress