To bone poultry you will need:

• Plenty of space,
• Plenty of time (the first time you do this it will take quite a while),
• 2 very sharp knives - a large one and a small/medium sized one.

Alternatively, you may be able to get your butcher to do it for you, but make sure that he doesn't throw away any of the parts that you need.

For something small like a pigeon, don't waste your time. All the meat is on the breast, simply slice off the breasts.

1. Place the bird on a large flat surface, breast side down.
2. Cut off the "parson's nose" (its tail), and discard it (or add it to the stock pot).
3. Slice along the bone line of the back, from end to end.
4. Carefully cut the meat away from the bone. Take care not to separate the meat from the skin, which is what will be holding it all together when you have finished.
5. When you have exposed the "hip" and "shoulder" joints, insert a knife into the joints and separate the leg and wing bones from the carcass. Leave the leg & wing bones attached to the meat until later.
6. Continue working around the carcass, separating the meat & skin from the bone. Be especially careful when you reach the sternum (the thin piece of bone dividing the 2 breasts, since there is only skin covering it, and you don't want to make a hole in the skin.
7. When you have removed the carcass, start on the legs & wings. Carefully cut the meat away from the bone, but try to leave any thick tendons attached to the bone (i.e. not attached to the meat), as they can be rather chewy.
8. When you have passed the first joint ("knee" or "elbow"), cut through the skin around the bone, just beyond the joint, from the outside.
9. Pull the leg & wing bones out of the meat/skin from the inside (i.e. so that the leg/wing turns inside out as you do it), cutting though any attachments between the meat & the bone that you didn't succeed in cutting though in the previous step.
10. Turn the legs & wings right side out.

There is a YouTube video to show you how to bone poultry, here