How can pigeons send messages

So to send a message, you first send the pigeon perhaps by train to the other person. When they feel the need to send you an urgent message, they attach the message to the pigeon and let it go.

Is it true that if you split a crows tongue it can talk? Yes, a crow with a split tongue can indeed talk.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Philosophy What birds were used to send messages?

Ben Davis March 28, What birds were used to send messages? The right bird had to have strong navigational skills and have the ability to find its way home from anywhere. And what better bird to get the job done than pigeons? In this article, we will be sharing with you how these birds were able to be excellent couriers in the past. Homing pigeons were the sort of birds used in the past to deliver messages. These birds descended from the wild rock dove. They were chosen for their remarkable ability to find their way home from very long distances.

When a pigeon is removed from its familiar surrounding and transported to a new location in a cage; it can find its way back home if and when released. The ability of these birds to fly straight home when set free is what humans exploited. Pigeons do not really know where to deliver messages; they just do what comes naturally to them — fly back home. Humans who needed to send a message to someone in a particular place only had to work with a pigeon that lived in that location.

When released, the pigeon flies around for a bit to get its bearing and then heads straight back home from where it was taken. In this way, the bird acted as a postman taking messages from one location to another. People in the past could have worked with humans on horsebacks or foot, but they chose to work with pigeons instead.

Pigeons were preferred for their speed and most importantly. Their extraordinary ability to find their way home from over miles away. For countless years, animal experts and scientists have studied these birds to understand how they can navigate their way home from extremely long distances. A lot of theories have been put forward to explain how pigeons do what they do.

Below are some of those theories:. Compass and map mechanism: It is widely believed that homing pigeons all have an internal compass and map mechanism that guides them in the right direction. Position of the sun: Another theory claims that pigeons can find their way home using the position and angle of the sun. To train these birds, a home base location had to be established.

The pigeons were taken not too far away from their nesting place; released from their cages and allowed to return home by themselves. Perhaps you have fun sending short messages and pictures via smartphone apps?

What if you had a bird that would deliver a message to your friend? Your friend could then write a response that your bird would bring back to you.

Sound a bit like sending owls in the wizarding world of Harry Potter? That type of magic isn't entirely the stuff of books, especially if you have a homing pigeon! Homing pigeons are a type of domestic pigeon descended from the rock pigeon.

Wild rock pigeons have an innate ability to find their way home from long distances. Today's homing pigeons have been carefully bred to do the same, including carrying messages over those long distances. Unlike the owls in the Harry Potter books, homing pigeons can't be given an address or a person to fly to. If taken a ways from home , though, they can find their way back home in a remarkably short period of time. In fact, homing pigeons have been known to find their way home from as many as 1, miles away, and they can travel an average of 50 miles per hour with bursts of up to 90 mph!

This ability has made them valuable as messengers since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians. Several birds even received medals for their service in delivering critical messages during wartime! But how do they find their way home over such long distances?

Could you imagine being dropped off 1, miles away and having to find your way home? What do homing pigeons do? Despite many scientific studies over the years, no one yet fully understands how homing pigeons navigate home across long distances. There are several theories that experts believe explain at least part of the processes at work. Scientists now believe that homing pigeons have both compass and map mechanisms that help them navigate home.

The compass mechanism helps them to fly in the right direction , while the map mechanism allows them to compare where they are to where they want to be home. A homing pigeon's compass mechanism likely relies upon the Sun. Like many other birds, homing pigeons can use the position and angle of the Sun to determine the proper direction for flight.

The map mechanism , however, remains a bit of a mystery. Some researchers believe homing pigeons use magnetoreception, which involves relying on Earth's magnetic fields for guidance. Researchers have found that homing pigeons have concentrations of iron particles in their beaks that would allow them to detect magnetic fields easily.

More recent research, however, suggests that homing pigeons may instead rely upon low-frequency infrasound to find their way home. These low-frequency sounds are inaudible to human ears, but they're created by nearly everything, including the oceans and Earth's crust. Homing pigeons may listen to these sounds until they recognize the signature sounds of their home roost. Of course, researchers also note that, once homing pigeons get closer to home , they may also be guided, in part, by familiar landmarks, just like humans use when navigating.

Can you find your way home? Find a friend or family member to help you explore the following activities:. That's a good question, landon! We WONDER if, perhaps because pigeons are so commonplace, no one would suspect they would be delivering special messages.

What are your thoughts? We hope the Wonder text above helped you learn how homing pigeons find their way home. Lions are considered the "king of the jungle" because they are apex predators. That means they are at the top of the food chain -- no other animal really hunts them for food. We hope you'll do some research online or at your library about apex predators and how important they are to ecosystems! That's a great question, Bryson! This Wonder just skims the surface about homing pigeons.

We hope you'll continue researching to discover the differences among species of pigeons! We're excited to hear that you found this Wonder interesting, houston and hannah! We can't wait to hear from you again! Thanks for commenting, owen!

We encourage you to keep learning about them at your library and online! We're sure you will find lots of info there! Thanks for sharing, Peyton! We know they aren't fun sometimes! We love to hear that you're learning and having fun! Thanks for visiting! Great question, Lauren! We're glad you made a connection to what you're learning in school.

We hope you share this Wonder with your classmates and teacher, too! We're glad you stopped by Wonderopolis, Peyton! It would be fun to research what other animals are known to deliver mail!

Hi, amos! We're glad this Wonder sparked your interest! We encourage you to keep researching this topic at your library and online! It would be interesting to see if any other animals were used to carry mail! We're glad you're having so much fun here at Wonderopolis, Grayson!