How Do Homing Pigeons Navigate? They Follow Roads

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 2-5-2004 | Caroline Davies

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

Did they fly/drive the ramps in the wrong direction?

[Warlord David]

They did what all the other bird brains did, before roads,

they follow trails or rivers or mountain ridges.

Just kidding around,and around, and around, I think
I will go that away.

[Consort]

They follow the roads so that they can drop bird poop on convertables with their tops down.

[DonQ]

Homing pigeons were being used LONG before there were regular roads, and were and are being used in places with no roads at all. So it's not roads alone that are the answer.

Very probably, in this experiment, the pigeons were taken from their homes to their launch points by vehicles using roads. Even if the birds couldn't see the highways, they probably (on an instictive level if nothing more) figured out that their outward trip involved roads, and once aloft they used the nearest road to find their way back.

There is also the possibility that roads, being clear of grass and trees and mountains, provide different air movement than natural landscape and the birds follow the more regular air flow that would be above roads because it's easier than flying over natural (and uneven) landscapes.

[Ciexyz]

And people call them 'dumb dirty birds'!

[Solamente]

Poppycock!

http://soma.npa.uiuc.edu/courses/physl490b/models/spatial_learning/spatial_learning.html

[DoughtyOne]

I agree with most of your comments. I suspect before roads were available, the birds would fly home along a route that they had been transported over. Today it looks more odd, because there are large highways that they appear to be using.

I still suspect these birds have something to do with mapquest behind the scenes. ;-)

[Howie66]

So, I guess that they did not call Triple A and get a trip ticket?

[Hunble]

FEMALE pigeons stop by the nearest gas station and ask for directions.

Normal pigeons do it by instict.

[CurlyDave]

if your gonads grow to 5% of your body weight don't say I didn't warn you heh! heh!

I would be very concerned if they became that small...

[Young Werther]

Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire!

[CommandoFrank]

Two points:

1 - I remember a study from long ago where an experment was done with homing pigeons. They had placed a small electromagnetic coil around their heads (or neck). When released to fly home, the birds flew around confused and not one of them got back home. The conclusion... they used the earths magnetic field for navigation.

2 - That had to be one unique GPS device. For them to plot the pigeon, that device had to calculate the position (no problem), record the info for retrieval later (no problem) or transmit the birds position real time to a receiver (no porblem). The problem for me seems to be that no matter how you collect the date, that poor pigeon is loaded down with one hell of a backpack for a small bird...

[wideminded]

Aren't pigeons supposed to have a structure in their brains that can detect the Earth's magnetic field? I suppose this would give them a sense of orientation, but not absolute location, so maybe that's why they need the roads.

[skinkinthegrass]

You see a bird's gonads are about 1% of body weight during the "off season" and 5% during the rut!

How did they do this job/survey? (sitting down, legs crossed)

[Hunble]

That is what I remember!

Pigeons have iron related minerals in their inner ear that will align to the magnetic field. Some humans have that also, as I was remember from that initial research.

My father and I could always detect North, even when blind-folded and often made a game of it with our family.

That is why the pigeon research has stuck with me all of these year.

Is that how we do it? If I need to seek North, I just close my eyes and turn until it "feels" right.

[Riley]

I know this post will get many of you freepers hot and bothered but if your gonads grow to 5% of your body weight don't say I didn't warn you heh! heh!

OMG, at five pounds apiece, even the crack of dawn wouldn't be safe.

[blam]

"Pigeons have iron related minerals in their inner ear that will align to the magnetic field. Some humans have that also, as I was remember from that initial research. "

I've read this also. Humans too.

[Doctor Stochastic]

So, how far is it if the crow has to walk and roll a flat tire?

[Polybius]

Do the female pigeons backseat drive?

[blam]

"Do the female pigeons backseat drive?"

Yup, it's a very ancient gene.