It might have been that he was walking pigeon-toed through Melbourne Airport that Customs officers plucked a man from the line and chose to search his bags.

Whatever sparked their suspicions, the man's feathers were well and truly ruffled when, after his bags were thoroughly checked and items were seized, he was ordered to drop his pants.

An image of the passenger caught carrying two live pigeons.

Stuffed into the man's tights, inside each leg, the officers found two live pigeons. A multi-vitamin container holding two birds eggs was also seized along with a money belt containing plant seeds and undeclared samples of eggplant.

The 23-year-old man, from Meadow Heights in Melbourne's north, landed at Melbourne Airport on Sunday after flying from Dubai. He was immediately handed over to Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services staff.