Frequently Asked Questions
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Where do they go?
Once released, the birds enjoy a flight back to their home loft, which is the place where they first flew as very young birds. This is the place to which they will always return. The video shows their graceful landing after a flight home from Pittsburgh. They enjoy safety and security in their home lofts north of Pittsburgh. Homing pigeons only fly one direction -- back home! |
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How do they find their way home? Amazingly enough, their homing ability is not yet completely understood. One theory suggests they use the earth's magnetic field lines to find their way home. Others have conducted studied that suggest that it may be their sense of smell, and still others propose that they visual cues or even the location of the sun and stars. A recent scientist studied the birds' sense of hearing and concluded that they may use infrasonic sounds (lower frequencies than we can hear) to map their surroundings. |
What if it rains?
Generally speaking, if people can safely go outside, the birds can, too. We invest a lot of time in our birds, keeping them healthy, trained, and well cared for. They do fly year round, but we won't release them in severe weather. You would receive a refund if the weather is not conducive to a release (severe rain, snow, or fog).
Generally speaking, if people can safely go outside, the birds can, too. We invest a lot of time in our birds, keeping them healthy, trained, and well cared for. They do fly year round, but we won't release them in severe weather. You would receive a refund if the weather is not conducive to a release (severe rain, snow, or fog).
Will a bird poop on my guests?
Life holds no guarantees, but the chances of that are slim. Pigeons fly with their feet tucked up under their bodies, which results in their covering their "vent." Because of this, it is unusual for them to poop during flight. This almost always translates to good fortune for those of us on the ground!
Can they really deliver messages?
Homing pigeons have been used to carry messages for centuries. By traveling with the birds in a basket, a person could tie a message on to the bird's leg, release it, and know that it would fly back home.
Cher Ami (French for "dear friend") is a famous homer that saved the Lost Battalion in WWI, rescuing nearly 200 soldiers that were trapped in enemy territory. Germany snipers were trained to look for these messengers pigeons and shoot them down, and even hawks were released to kill these important birds. But despite having been shot in the chest, blinded in one eye, and nearly having lost a leg, the determined Cher Ami arrived back at her home loft in a U.S. division headquarters, successfully delivering the message that reported the location of the Lost Battalion. She was a decorated war hero, named the mascot of the U.S. Department of Service, and school children in the 1920s and 1930s knew about the war heroine Cher Ami as readily as any other war hero. After she died, Cher Ami was mounted by a taxidermist and given to the Smithsonian Institute, where you can see her today.
Are doves and pigeons different?
They are from different families in the same taxonomic order. Rock doves, a.k.a. homing pigeons, are used in releases. They are larger and much stronger fliers than their cousins, the love doves, which are used in displays.
The Family Life of Rock Doves
Homing pigeons are descendants of the Rock Dove species and have lived closely with people for 5,000 years. Many live together peacefully, and when they reach adulthood (approx. 6 months old), they mate for life. After the female lays a clutch of 1 or 2 eggs, the parents take turns keeping them warm. The hen sits on the eggs all night and into the morning; the cock's shift starts at approximately 10 am and runs until about 4 pm. After 19 days, the baby pigeon hatches, then both parents produce a crop "milk" to feed the young until it can eat grains on its own. It's a lovely model for a family!
Did you know that ...
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The birds will take 2-3 baths a week, and they love to grab a shower in the rain!
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Doves are the most often mentioned animal in the Bible.
In Ancient Greece, doves would be released to carry news of the winners of the Olympic games back to surrounding regions. Rock doves are the fastest flying birds, maintaining speeds of 50-60 mph for 10 or more hours. Peregrin falcons are faster if they are in a dive, but not flying. It takes a baby pigeon 24 hours to peck its way out of its shell. Some pigeon fanciers routinely race their birds in 300 mile races, and many do 600 mile races. The farthest distance recorded for a pigeon flight was just over 1,100 miles. These distances are all flown in one day. Birds don't have teeth! Instead, they gather small rocks and hold them in a pouch in their throat called the "crop". When they swallow food, the food passes through the rocks, gets ground up, and then moves into the bird's stomach. The Reuters international news agency began by using homing pigeons to transmit stock markets quotes before the telegraph was available. . |