Homing Pigeons

BirdNote^®

Homing Pigeons

Written by Todd Peterson

This is BirdNote!
[sounds of Rock Pigeon]
Remember the World War I movies with the rumble and crash of artillery [sounds of artillery], the doughboys in their trenches anxiously awaiting word of the attack? And then the messenger pigeon, fluttering to the lieutenant’s hand with vital news?
[sound of Rock Pigeon taking flight]
Today messenger pigeons are called homing or racing pigeons [flapping of caged Rock Pigeon]. Rather than answering a call to arms, they contribute to the joy and pleasure of life [ambient cooing] for “fanciers” around the world. Pigeon fanciers, who also call themselves “flyers,” race specially bred homing pigeons over distances up to 600 miles. These stalwart and intelligent birds course the skies at speeds greater than 60 miles an hour. A young bird flying home to a loft in Norfolk, Virginia earned the 2005 record, by covering more than 250 miles at an average speed of 2,040 yards per minute, at times exceeding 70 miles an hour.
[sound of Rock Pigeon taking flight]
How do they find their way? No one knows for sure. But it’s possible pigeons navigate using lines in the earth’s magnetic field. They may also draw their position from the sun and stars, as well as from their keen sense of smell and hearing. A more romantic explanation offers that they just know where they are.
However they do it, there is something deeply appealing—for birds and people—of finally finding your way home.
 To learn more about the amazing abilities of birds, find your way to BirdNote.org and click on BirdWeb. I’m Frank Corrado.
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Audio of Rock Pigeons provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by A.L. Priori.
Sound of Rock Pigeon taking flight by Martyn Stewart, Naturesound Productions.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org     April 2012     Narrator:  Michael Stein
ID#032106pigeonsKPLU