The week my feeder turned into a pigeon convention

I usually love seeing cardinals and chickadees in my yard near Portland, but last Tuesday a flock of about 40 pigeons showed up and stayed for five straight days. They bullied every smaller bird off the platform feeder, drank all the water from the birdbath, and left droppings all over my patio furniture. I tried switching to a cage feeder with smaller openings, but those clever pigeons just waited underneath for the spilled seed and scared away the finches. My neighbor laughed and said I should just embrace them, but I honestly think pigeons are the most underrated backyard bird, they're smart, hardy, and way more interesting than people give them credit for. By Sunday they finally moved on, and now my yard feels almost too quiet without their cooing chaos. Has anyone else had a pigeon takeover, and did you find a way to keep them around without driving off your usual visitors?