Mike Tyson Conspiracy -- The Government's Killing Our Pigeons!

America's precious pigeon population is in danger -- especially in NYC -- so says famed pigeon lover Mike Tyson, who claims the government has launched an evil campaign to get rid of our gray little friends forever!!!

Tyson was at LAX yesterday when the conversation inevitably turned to his beloved animals -- in the words of Woody Allen, "rats with wings" -- and he explained his conspiracy theory ... that municipalities like NYC have introduced falcons to curb the pigeon population.

He's not far off ... according to a government report from 2007 -- called "Curbing the Pigeon Conundrum" -- NYC officials have used hawks to keep pigeons in check ... but that brief experiment ended in 2003 when one hawk attacked a small dog.

So there you go ... it's pigeon lovers vs. hawk conservationists ... which means, we gotta ask ...