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Homing pigeon

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(Redirected fromCarrier pigeons)
"Carrier pigeon" redirects here. For the breed of show pigeon, seeEnglish Carrier pigeon.
A messenger pigeon on a house roof
A group of homing pigeons in flight
A modern day racing pigeon wearing an electronic timing ring

Thehoming pigeonis a variety ofdomestic pigeon(Columba livia domestica),selectively bredfor its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. Because of this skill, homing pigeons were used to carry messages, a practice referred to as "pigeon post".Until the introduction of telephones, they were used commercially to deliver communication; when used during wars, they were called"war pigeons".

The homing pigeon is also called amail pigeonormessenger pigeon,and colloquially ahomer.Perhaps most commonly, the homing pigeon is called acarrier pigeon;[1][2][3][4][5][6]this nomenclature can be confusing, though, since it is distinct from theEnglish carrier,an ancient breed offancy pigeon.Modern-day homing pigeons do have English carrier blood in them because they are in part descendants of the old-style carriers.[citation needed]

The domestic pigeon is derived from the wildrock dove(Columba liviasspp.); the rock dove has an innate homing ability,[7]meaning that it will generally return to its nest usingmagnetoreception.[8]Flights as long as 1,800 km (1,100 miles) have been recorded by birds in competitivehoming pigeon racing;[9]birds bred for this are colloquially called racing homers. Homing pigeons' average flying speed over moderate 965 km (600 miles) distances is around 97 km/h (60 miles per hour)[10]and speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 miles per hour) have been observed in top racers for short[clarification needed]distances.

History

[edit]
Main article:Pigeon post
Stamp for early Pigeon-Gram Service

Homing pigeons were potentially being used forpigeon postinAncient Egyptby 1350 BCE.[11]Messages were tied around the legs of the pigeon, which was freed and could reach its original nest.Pliny the Elderdescribed pigeons used in a similar fashion as military messengers around the first century CE.[12] By the 19th century homing pigeons were used extensively for military communications.[13]

The sport of flying messenger pigeons was well-established as early as 3000 years ago.[14]They were used to proclaim the winner of theAncient Olympics.[14][15] Messenger pigeons were used as early as 1150 inBaghdad[16]and also later byGenghis Khan.By 1167 a regular service between Baghdad and Syria had been established by SultanNur ad-Din.[17]InDamietta,by the mouth of the Nile, the Spanish travellerPedro Tafursaw carrier pigeons for the first time, in 1436, though he imagined that the birds made round trips, out and back.[18]TheRepublic of Genoaequipped their system of watch towers in the Mediterranean Sea with pigeon posts.Tipu SultanofMysore(1750–1799) also used messenger pigeons; they returned to the Jamia Masjid mosque inSrirangapatna,which was his headquarters. The pigeon holes may be seen in the mosque's minarets to this day.

In 1818, a great pigeon race called the Cannonball Run took place atBrussels.[14]In 1860,Paul Reuter,who later foundedReuterspress agency, used a fleet of over 45 pigeons to deliver news and stock prices between Brussels andAachen,the terminus of early telegraph lines. The outcome of the 1815Battle of Waterloohas often been claimed to have been delivered to London by pigeon but there is no evidence for this, and it is very unlikely; the pigeon post was rare until the 1820s.[19]During theFranco-Prussian Warpigeons were used to carry mail between besieged Paris and the French unoccupied territory. In December 1870, it took ten hours for a pigeon carryingmicrofilmsto fly fromPerpignantoBrussels.[20]

Historically, pigeons carried messages only one way, to their home. They had to be transported manually before another flight. However, by placing their food at one location and their home at another location, pigeons have been trained to fly back and forth up to twice a day reliably, covering round-trip flights up to 160 km (100 mi).[21]Their reliability has lent itself to occasional use on mail routes, such as theGreat Barrier Pigeongram Serviceestablished between theAuckland,New Zealand,suburb ofNewtonandGreat Barrier Islandin November 1897,[22]possibly the first regularair mailservice in the world. The world's first "airmail" stamps were issued for the Great Barrier Pigeon-Gram Service from 1898 to 1908.[23]

In the 19th century, newspapers sometimes used carrier pigeons. To get news from Europe quicker, some New York City newspapers used carrier pigeons. The distance from Europe to Halifax, Nova Scotia, is relatively short. So reporters stationed themselves in Halifax, wrote the information received from incoming ships, and put the messages in capsules attached to the legs of homing pigeons. The birds would then fly from Halifax to New York City where the information would be published.[24]

Homing pigeons were still employed in the 21st century by certain remote police departments inOdishastate in easternIndiato provide emergency communication services followingnatural disasters.In March 2002, it was announced that India's Police Pigeon Service messenger system in Odisha was to be retired, due to the expanded use of theInternet.[25]TheTalibanbanned the keeping or use of pigeons, including racing pigeons, inAfghanistanin the late 1990s.[26]

To this day, pigeons are still entered into competitions.[27]

[edit]
Main article:Animal navigation

Research has been performed with the intention of discovering how pigeons, after being transported, can find their way back from distant places they have never visited before. Most researchers believe that homing ability is based on a "map and compass" model, with the compass feature allowing birds to orient and the map feature allowing birds to determine their location relative to a goal site (home loft).[28]While the compass mechanism appears to rely on the sun, the map mechanism has been highly debated.[29]Some researchers believe that the map mechanism relies on the ability of birds to detect theEarth's magnetic field.

A prominent theory is that the birds are able to detect a magnetic field to help them find their way home. Scientific research previously suggested that on top of a pigeon's beak a large number ofironparticles are found which remain aligned to Earth's magnetic north like a naturalcompass,thus acting as compass which helps pigeon in determining its home.[30]However, a 2012 study disproved this theory, putting the field back on course to search for an explanation as to how animals detect magnetic fields.[30]

A light-mediated mechanism that involves the eyes and is lateralized has been examined somewhat, but developments have implicated the trigeminal nerve inmagnetoreception.[31][32]Research by Floriano Papi (Italy, early 1970s) and more recent work, largely by Hans Wallraff, suggest that pigeons also orient themselves using the spatial distribution of atmospheric odors,[29]known asolfactory navigation.

Other research indicates that homing pigeons also navigate through visual landmarks by following familiar roads and other human-made features, making 90-degree turns and following habitual routes, much the same way that humans navigate.[33]

Research by Jon Hagstrum of the US Geological Survey suggests that homing pigeons use low-frequencyinfrasoundto navigate.[34]Sound waves as low as 0.1 Hz have been observed to disrupt or redirect pigeon navigation. The pigeon ear, being far too small to interpret such a long wave, directs pigeons to fly in a circle when first taking air, in order to mentally map such long infrasound waves.

Various experiments suggest that different breeds of homing pigeons rely on different cues to different extents.Charles Walcottat Cornell University was able to demonstrate that while pigeons from one loft were confused by a magnetic anomaly in the Earth it had no effect on birds from another loft 1.6 km (1 mile) away. Other experiments have shown that altering the perceived time of day with artificial lighting or using air conditioning to eliminate odors in the pigeons' home roost affected the pigeons' ability to return home.[citation needed]

GPS tracing studies indicate that gravitational anomalies may play a role as well.[35][36]

Roles

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Postal carriage

[edit]
Main article:Pigeon post

A message may be written on thin light paper, rolled into a small tube, and attached to a messenger pigeon's leg. They will only travel to one "mentally marked" point that they have identified as their home, so "pigeon post" can only work when the sender is actually holding the receiver's pigeons.

With training, pigeons can carry up to 75 g (2.5 oz) on their backs. As early as 1903, the German apothecaryJulius Neubronnerused carrier pigeons to both receive and deliver urgent medication.[37]In 1977, a similar system of 30 carrier pigeons was set up for the transport of laboratory specimens between two English hospitals. Every morning a basket with pigeons was taken from Plymouth General Hospital to Devonport Hospital. The birds then delivered unbreakable vials back to Plymouth as needed.[38]The carrier pigeons became unnecessary in 1983 because of the closure of one of the hospitals.[39]In the 1980s a similar system existed between two French hospitals located in Granville and Avranche.[40]

Wartime communication

[edit]
Main article:War pigeon
A B-type bus from London converted into a pigeon loft for use in northern France and Belgium during the First World War
Dispatching of a message by carrier pigeon within the Swiss Army during World War I
Crewman of anRAF Bomberwith homing pigeons nestled in niches as a means of emergency communications in the event of a crash,ditching,or radio failure

Birds were used extensively duringWorld War I.One homing pigeon,Cher Ami,was awarded the FrenchCroix de guerrefor his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages, despite having been very badly injured.[41]

During World War II, the IrishPaddy,the AmericanG.I. Joeand the EnglishMary of Exeterall received theDickin Medal.They were among 32 pigeons to receive this award, for their gallantry and bravery in saving human lives with their actions. Eighty-two homing pigeons were dropped into theNetherlandswith the First Airborne Division Signals as part ofOperation Market GardeninWorld War II.The pigeons' loft was located in London, which would have required them to fly 390 km (240 miles) to deliver their messages.[42]Also in World War II, hundreds of homing pigeons with theConfidential Pigeon Servicewere airdropped into northwest Europe to serve as intelligence vectors for local resistance agents. Birds played a vital part in theInvasion of Normandyas radios could not be used for fear of vital information being intercepted by the enemy.

During the Second World War, the use of pigeons for sending messages was highlighted in Britain by the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret asGirl Guidesjoining other Guides sending messages to theWorld Chief Guidein 1943, as part of a campaign to raise money for homing pigeons.[43][44][45][46]

Computing

[edit]

The humorousIP over Avian Carriers(RFC 1149) is anInternetprotocol for the transmission of messages via homing pigeon. Originally intended as anApril Fools' Day RFCentry, this protocol was implemented and used, once, to transmit a message inBergen,Norway,on 28 April 2001.[47]

In September 2009, aSouth AfricanIT company based inDurbanpitted an 11-month-old bird armed with a data packed 4 GB memory stick against theADSLservice from the country's biggest Internet service provider,Telkom.The pigeon, Winston, took an hour and eight minutes to carry the data 80 km (50 miles). In all, the data transfer took two hours, six minutes, and fifty-seven seconds—the same amount of time it took to transfer 4% of the data over the ADSL.[48][49]

Smuggling

[edit]

Homing pigeons have been reported to be used as a smuggling technique, getting objects andnarcoticsacrossbordersand intoprisons.[50]For instance, between 2009 and 2015, pigeons have been reported to carrycontrabanditems such asmobile phones,SIM cards,phonebatteriesandUSB cordsinto prisons in theBrazilianstate ofSão Paulo.[51][52]There have also been cases where homing pigeons were used to transport drugs into prisons.[53]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^"carrier pigeon".Merriam-Webster.Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2024.RetrievedMay 29,2024.a pigeon used to carry messages, especially: homing pigeon
  2. ^"carrier pigeon".The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2022.RetrievedMay 29,2024.A homing pigeon, especially one trained to carry messages.
  3. ^"carrier pigeon".Collins English Dictionary.New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2024.RetrievedMay 29,2024.any homing pigeon, esp one used for carrying messages
  4. ^"carrier pigeon".Webster's New World College Dictionary.Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2010.RetrievedMay 29,2024.a homing pigeon trained to carry messages
  5. ^"carrier pigeon".Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.Oxford: Oxford University press. 2024.RetrievedMay 29,2024.a pigeon that has been trained to carry messages
  6. ^"carrier pigeon".Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2024.RetrievedMay 29,2024.a pigeon that is trained to carry messages
  7. ^Blechman, Andrew (2007).Pigeons-The fascinating saga of the world's most revered and reviled bird.St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.ISBN978-0-7022-3641-9.Archived fromthe originalon 12 January 2008.
  8. ^Levi, Wendell (1977).The Pigeon.Sumter, S.C.: Levi Publishing Co. p. 82.ISBN978-0-85390-013-9.
  9. ^Walcott, Charles (1996)."Pigeon Homing: Observations,copup and Confusions"(PDF).Journal of Experimental Biology.199(Pt 1): 21–27.doi:10.1242/jeb.199.1.21.PMID9317262.Retrieved4 January2008.
  10. ^Andrew (2011)."Cairo's Fancy Fliers".Saudi Aramco World.Vol. 62, no. 2. Aramco Services Company.Retrieved11 December2018.
  11. ^Parks, Shoshi; Jerolmack, Colin."Did Ancient Egypt Have a Pigeon Problem?".Atlas Obscura.Retrieved6 September2023.
  12. ^Pliny. "53".Natural History(Book 10 ed.).Retrieved6 September2023.
  13. ^Carter W. Clarke, "Signal Corps Pigeons".The Military Engineer25.140 (1933): 133–138Online.
  14. ^abcTeale, Edwin (June 1936). "Mile-a-Minute Pigeons".Popular Science Monthly.128(6): 25ff.
  15. ^Blechman, Andrew (2007).Pigeons – The fascinating saga of the world's most revered and reviled bird.St Lucia, Queensland:University of Queensland Press.ISBN978-0-7022-3641-9.
  16. ^"The Sport of Racing Homing Pigeons".fbipigeons.Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2012.Retrieved17 September2003.
  17. ^Allatt, Captain H.T.W. (1886)."The Use of Pigeons as Messengers in War and the Military Pigeon Systems of Europe".RUSI Journal.30(133): 107–148 [111].doi:10.1080/03071848609416366.Retrieved24 November2012.
  18. ^"I saw there for the first time carrier pigeons, which take letters in their tail-feathers. They carry them from the place where they are bred to other places, and when the letters are detached they are set free and return to their homes. By this means the inhabitants have speedy news of all who come and go by sea or land." (Pedro Tafur,Andanças e viajes).
  19. ^"Challenging the myth".Archived fromthe originalon 2 February 2018.Retrieved2 February2017.
  20. ^Cardenas, Fabricio (4 May 2014)."Perpignan–Bruxelles par pigeon-express".Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales(in French).Retrieved24 February2016.
  21. ^National Research Council (1991).Micro Livestock – Little Known Small Animals With a Promising Economic Future.Sumter, South Carolina:Natl Academy Pr.ISBN978-0-309-04437-0."Microlivestock – Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future: Part II: Poultry: 10 Pigeon".Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2016.Retrieved21 June2015.
  22. ^"Carrier pigeons still serve; Even in modern war they do messenger duty".The New York Times.12 April 1936. p. SM26.
  23. ^"The Great Barrier Island Pigeon-Gram Service".Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Archived fromthe originalon 15 April 2012.
  24. ^Winders, Gertrude Hecker,Horace Greeley: Newspaperman,The John Day Company, New York, 1962, p. 133.
  25. ^"Indian pigeons lose out to e-mail".BBC News Online.26 March 2002.Retrieved27 March2010.
  26. ^"Some of the restrictions imposed by Taliban on women in Afghanistan".Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Archived fromthe originalon 3 July 2017.Retrieved3 January2008.
  27. ^"Beginners' Guide to Racing Pigeons".Pigeon Mad.Archived fromthe originalon 2018-04-11.Retrieved2016-12-01.
  28. ^Bingman, V. P. (1998). Spatial representations and homing pigeon navigation. In S. Healy (Ed).Spatial Representation in Animals.(pp. 67–85). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  29. ^abWallraff, H.G. (2004). "Avian olfactory navigation: its empirical foundation and conceptual state".Animal Behaviour.67(2): 189–204.doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.06.007.S2CID53181732.
  30. ^abTreiber, CD; et al. (2012). "Clusters of iron-rich cells in the upper beak of pigeons are macrophages not magnetosensitive neurons".Nature.484(7394): 367–70.Bibcode:2012Natur.484..367T.doi:10.1038/nature11046.PMID22495303.S2CID205228624.
  31. ^Mora, C. V.; Davison, M.; Wild, J. M.; Walker, M. M. (2004). "Magnetoreception and its trigeminal mediation in the homing pigeon".Nature.432(7016): 508–511.Bibcode:2004Natur.432..508M.doi:10.1038/nature03077.PMID15565156.S2CID2485429.
  32. ^Gagliardo, A.; Ioale, P.; Savini, M.; Wild, J. M. (2006). "Having the nerve to home: trigeminal magnetoreceptor versus olfactory mediation of homing in pigeons".The Journal of Experimental Biology.209(15): 2888–2892.doi:10.1242/jeb.02313.PMID16857872.
  33. ^"Pigeons reveal map reading secret".BBC News (5 Feb 2004). 5 February 2004.Retrieved2 July2008.
  34. ^Knight, Kathryn (2013). Disappearing homing Pigeon mystery solved. The Company of Biologists.
  35. ^Nicole Blaser; Sergei I. Guskov; Virginia Meskenaite; Valerii A. Kanevskyi; Hans-Peter Lipp (23 October 2013)."Altered Orientation and Flight Paths of Pigeons Reared on Gravity Anomalies: A GPS Tracking Study".PLOS ONE.8(10): e77102.Bibcode:2013PLoSO...877102B.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077102.PMC3806762.PMID24194860.
  36. ^Nicole Blaser; Sergei I. Guskov; Vladimir A. Entin; David P. Wolfer; Valeryi A. Kanevskyi; Hans-Peter Lipp (2014)."Gravity anomalies without geomagnetic disturbances interfere with pigeon homing – a GPS tracking study".Journal of Experimental Biology.217(22): 4057–4067.doi:10.1242/jeb.108670.PMID25392461.
  37. ^"Le pigeon voyageur photographe".Les Nouveautés Photographiques(in French): 63–71. 1910.
  38. ^"Pigeons flying for life".The Milwaukee Sentinel.23 July 1977.[dead link]
  39. ^"The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association, Issue 33 – June 1983".Retrieved14 August2013.
  40. ^"Le Carabinier"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 March 2012.
  41. ^Webley, Kayla (21 March 2011)."Top 10 Heroic Animals".Time.Retrieved17 January2017.
  42. ^Cornelius Ryan–A Bridge Too Far
  43. ^"Pin on Elizabeth II".Pinterest.
  44. ^"34 Things You Didn't Know About Queen Elizabeth in 2020 | Queen elizabeth, Racing pigeons, Princess photo".Pinterest.
  45. ^"Facebook".facebook.
  46. ^The newspaper caption reads: 1943 – The flight of the County Pigeon "Over 100 Guides and Brownies with their Guiders and Commissioners came to Shrewsbury Castle to watch the County Commissioner release the Carrier Pigeons flying the County's message of greeting to the Chief Guide in London. Those present included the Mayor of Shrewsbury, Mrs Rotton and Mrs Windsor County Commissioner for Merrionethshire who also released two pigeons with her County's message of greeting." Our message said: THROUGHOUT THE HILLS AND VALLEYS OF SHROPSHIRE THE GUIDE LAWS ARE CHERISHED AND THE GUIDES CONTINUE STEADFAST AND "PREPARED". MAY WE KEEP THE GUIDE FLAME BURNING BRIGHTLY ALL OVER THE WORLD WHEN PEACE RETURNS. "from an album, with no reference - can you find it?
  47. ^"RFC-1149".BLUG.Archived fromthe originalon 4 October 2011.
  48. ^Govender, Peroshni (9 September 2009)."Pigeon transfers data faster than South Africa's Telkom".Reuters (9 September 2009).Retrieved9 October2009.
  49. ^"SA pigeon 'faster than broadband'".BBC (10 September 2009). 10 September 2009.Retrieved9 October2009.
  50. ^Quilty-Harper, Conrad."Cocaine carrier pigeons are the latest drug smuggling technique".GQ.Retrieved25 May2017.
  51. ^"Pombo que levava celular para presos é capturado no interior de SP"[Pigeon carrying cell phones to prisoners is captured in the interior of SP].G1(in Portuguese). 28 April 2009.Retrieved2 August2024.
  52. ^"Pombo com celular é encontrado em penitenciária na Zona Sul de SP"[Pigeon with cell phone found in prison in the South Zone of SP].G1(in Portuguese). 4 August 2015.Retrieved2 August2024.
  53. ^"Pigeon 'caught with backpack of drugs'".BBC News.25 May 2017.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Lucy M Blanchard,Chico, the Story of a Homing Pigeon in the Great War,Diggory Press,ISBN978-1-84685-039-4
  • Carter W. Clarke, "Signal Corps Pigeons".The Military Engineer25.140 (1933): 133–138Online.
  • Jon Day,"Operation Columba" (review ofGordon Corera,Secret Pigeon Service,William Collins, 2018, 326 pp.,ISBN978-0008220303),London Review of Books,vol. 41, no. 7 (4 April 2019), pp. 15–16. "Pigeons flew across theRoman Empire carrying messages from the margins to the capital. [In 43 BCE]Decimus BrutusbrokeMarc Antony'ssiege of Mutina[Modena, in northern Italy] by sending letters to the consuls via pigeon.... [However, p]igeons only really came into their own with modern [times, especially d]uring the 19th and early 20th centuries ". (Jon Day,p. 15.)
  • Meir Shalev,A Pigeon and a Boy(English translation by Evan Fallenberg), a historical novel about the use of pigeons by theIsrael Defense Forces(and the Haganah before Israel was founded in 1948) in the defence of Israel when it was first founded, and in the defence of the Jewish community before Israeli independence
  • Jerry Spinelli,Wringer
  • Tegetmeier, William Bernhard (1871).The homing or carrier pigeon.London: George Routledge.
  • "Nine Champions Create A Champion",Bob Kinney Silverado,The Thoroughbred,15 May 1998
[edit]
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