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China is training 10,000 messenger pigeons to deliver vital military communications in the event of the country's communication systems breaking down. According to the Chinese state media, the pigeons are being trained by a special unit of the People's Liberation Army in the central city of Chengdu. "They will be primarily called upon to conduct special military missions between troops stationed at our borders," said Chen Hong, an air force expert, to China Central Television (CCTV), the state broadcaster. "In modern warfare, the pigeon is indispensable," he added. "There are as many military pigeons as there are soldiers in the...

Rock band Kings of Leon were forced to pull the plug half way through a concert after their bass player was pooped on by pigeons. Jared Followill had been hit several times already when a particularly large splat landed on his face near his mouth. That proved too much for the rockers, who fled the stage in St Louis, Missouri just three songs into their set. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1297396/Kings-Leon-cancel-gig-pigeon-poops-bass-player.html#ixzz0uhA9fvfm

With Breathless Anticipation, Crowd Awaits Unveiling of Obama Statue.

DISCLAIMER: I did not take these pictures nor do I know who the photographer is. They were sent to me as an effort to brightened my day ----which it did!!

Startled pigeons might not appear to epitomise the wonder of evolution, but a study has discovered that the birds can communicate with their wings. When a crested pigeon is startled into flight its wings produce a whistling sound which serves as an alarm call. The pigeons have "modified wings" that produce the whistle as they fly, but only this sudden take-off creates the alarm that causes other birds to flee. The team report their findings in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

A city building inspector warned David Schutt and his roommates that they had to do something about the flocks of pooping pigeons infesting their University of Utah-area residence. David said he even had pigeons in his room. But when he tried to chase them off, he found himself behind bars on Easter Sunday, suspected of animal cruelty and shooting a weapon inside city limits. The alleged crime? Killing, he says by accident, one of the feathered horde with a BB gun. Schutt , an engineering student at the University of Utah, says he was just trying to scatter the birds...

PRAGUE, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and the United States pledged here on Sunday to cooperate more in fighting climate change. "The EU and the U.S. must also work together on helping developing countries reach their own goals in terms of reducing emissions," the joint declaration issued by the EU-U.S. summit said. "Together, the EU and the U.S. will be in a stronger position to get on board key international actors and emerging countries and achieve an ambitious outcome at the UN negotiations in Copenhagen later this year," the document said. Earlier on the day, U.S. President...

Inmates have devised an innovative way to smuggle in cell phones into a prison farm in Brazil: carrier pigeons. Guards at the Danilio Pinheiro prison near the southeastern city of Sorocaba noticed a pigeon resting on an electric wire with a small cloth bag tied to one of its legs last week. "The guards nabbed the bird after luring it down with some food and discovered components of a small cell phone inside the bag," police investigator Celso Soramiglio said Tuesday. One day later, another pigeon was spotted dragging a similar bag inside the prison's exercise yard. Inside the bag...

What a bird brain! A pigeon-lover ruffled a few feathers today at an airport in Australia - after customs agents found two birds stuffed into his pants as he attempted to smuggle them into the country, authorities said.

Tehran (AsiaNews) - "Iran arrests spy pigeons near nuclear site": this is how the semiofficial news agency Fars reports that "security forces have arrested two suspected 'spy pigeons' near a complex for uranium enrichment." Asia News IRAN Iranian security arrests two pigeons for espionage iran espionage spy spies surveillance pigeons unites states u.s. military nuclear program uranium enrichment The birds were apprehended near two nuclear plants: one was black, both had "metal rings, with invisible strings." The news agency Fars recalls a protest by Tehran against U.S. espionage. Tehran (AsiaNews) - "Iran arrests spy pigeons near nuclear site": this...

Security forces in Natanz have arrested two suspected "spy pigeons" near Iran's controversial uranium enrichment facility, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper reported on Monday. One of the pigeons was caught near a rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, the report cited an unnamed informed source as saying, adding that some metal rings and invisible strings were attached to the bird. "Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings," the source was quoted as saying of the second pigeon. The source gave no further description of the...

Authorities in Iran nabbed two birds believed to be “spy pigeons” near the country’s contentious nuclear facility, the Agence France-Presse reported Monday. Both pigeons were caught near the city of Natanz, which is home to Iran’s uranium enrichment plant, AFP reported. Both had metal rings and invisible strings attached to them. A source declined to mention what will happen to the pigeons now that they’ve been caught.

Cruelty to animals? A waste of time and money? A project to get rid of some pesky birds beneath bridges is being met with serious questions. The motivating factor behind the project is avian excrement - otherwise known as poop. Tucked beneath 14 North Texas tollway bridges, you'll find cages baited with corn, waiting for pigeons to step inside. The tollway says trapping them is necessary to cut down on bird droppings hazardous to the highway and people's health. But Teri Latsko and Nicole Matocha say the threat is to the birds. And they have the pictures to prove it....

Two Canadian bird smugglers were foiled on Sunday when they tried to cross the U.S. border with four exotic pigeons stuffed into their jackets. The discovery was made as the two Canadian citizens attempted to enter the United States through the Lewiston Bridge border crossing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. When the men were asked to remove their jackets, authorities found four live pigeons stuffed into the inside pockets. Kevin Corsaro of CBP public affairs said they could face criminal charges. “The smuggling of such birds increases the chances that a communicable bird disease, such as exotic newcastle or...

LEWISTON, N.Y. -- Border agents pulled four live birds from the pockets of a pigeon collector and a traveling companion trying to enter the United States from Canada. The pair were stopped Sunday at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing. They told inspectors they were on their way to visit an uncle near Rochester, says Customs and Border Protection spokesman Kevin Corsaro. The Uxbridge, Ontario residents, whose names were not released, were asked during a secondary inspection to remove their coats and that's when the birds were found. One man told CBP officers he is a pigeon collector who belongs to...

Specialty breed - Members of the Northwest roller club are accused of killing birds of prey, some endangeredShowing a visitor through the Hillsboro shelters where he raises "roller" pigeons, Ivan Hanchett described how he trapped hawks so they wouldn't bother his precious flock. He suffocated the hawks in garbage bags, he said, and put them in the trash, noting he had "never seen a hawk that could hold its breath more than three seconds." Hanchett went on: Oregon aficionados of the roller pigeon -- a special breed flown in competitions -- commonly capture and kill hawks and falcons that attack...

Pigeon Fans Charged in Deaths of Raptors ASSOCIATED PRESS May 25, 2007 LOS ANGELES – Pigeon fanciers in California and two other states were accused of shooting, clubbing and gassing federally protected hawks and falcons, authorities said yesterday. A 14-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led to charges being filed against a Texas man on Wednesday, three Oregon men on Monday and seven Southern California men earlier this month. The men were accused of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by taking or attempting to take a protected bird. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of...

Bird-brained China scientists learn to fly pigeons Tue Feb 27, 12:53 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains, state media reported on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology said ther electrodes could command them to fly right or left or up or down, Xinhua news agency said. "The implants stimulate different areas of the pigeon's brain according to signals sent by the scientists via computer, and force the bird to...

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - An attempt to control pigeons at a hospital escalated into a hazardous material incident as sick and dying birds falling from the sky forced a temporary shutdown of the emergency room. "Birds were coming down like dive bombers," said Schenectady Fire Chief Robert Farstad.

A worker at a Downtown steam plant who brought a pellet rifle to work to shoot pigeons was mistaken for a sniper Wednesday afternoon, prompting police to shut down part of the city for about two hours. Richard Wills, of Dawson, Fayette County, a maintenance worker in the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building, brought the weapon to work to chase pigeons away from broken windows on the building's roof, said PACT President Robert Fazio. Someone apparently spotted him - and his rifle - when he stepped out onto the roof for a few seconds, Fazio said. At least three witnesses...