In this article, We Share the Top 10 interesting Facts About Pigeons That May Challenge Your View. Don’t Waste time Let’s Start!!!!
Top 10 interesting Facts About Pigeons That May Challenge Your View
Today the pigeons have earned themselves an unpopular image. They are viewed by many as harmless birds that have a purpose of causing chaos in cities and spread diseases. Some even go as that they call them “worshipping rats. There are however, a few aspects of this perception could be untrue in the fact. Pigeons can do incredible things that a lot of people are not aware of. These are 10 interesting facts about pigeons which could challenge your beliefs.
1. They Have Been Present In Human History For Thousands Of Years
We have previously discussed the crucial role that pigeons played in the wartime. Unexpectedly, pigeons were our companions throughout the history of humanity. The first evidence of domestication by the pigeon was discovered on a cuneiform scribbled tablet from Mesopotamia nearly 5000 years ago. In Egypt remains of pigeons have also been discovered along with human remains. Through time Pigeons have been used as a symbol for religion. They have been celebrated and sacrificed during religious ceremonies. Although the rock dove might have a negative reputation in our modern world Pigeons have been a part of humans long before we were able to be able to write about them. If they’re lucky we’ll see them in the near future also.
2. Pigeons Can Be Extremely Colorful
If you hear “pigeon,” the kind of bird do you think of? Are you thinking of the gray and medium-sized birds that swoop around on the city? The majority of us do. However, that’s only one type of bird called a pigeon. Doves and pigeons are found everywhere in the world and they are often breathtakingly gorgeous. Fruit doves, as an example are a family of doves and pigeons which typically display vivid hues of yellow, green, and red.
3. Living Relatives Of The Dodo
DNA tests have revealed that the dodo bird extinct is part of the same species as doves and pigeons. Its closest living relative is the vibrant Nicobar Pigeon, which is which is native in Southeast Asia and the Nicobar Islands. Before this finding the classification of families of the dodo was difficultdue to its peculiar physical traits. I bet you weren’t conscious of this!
4. They Are Capable Of Superstitious Behavior
If you’ve ever been to an introduction to psychology class. The term B.F. Skinner may sound familiar to you. You might have heard about his work in operant conditioning as well as other areas of behaviorism. If you’re lucky, you could have read about his research that involved the pigeon. in 1947 Skinner conducted a study that involved a group of pigeons who were weighing less than a were kept in cages and fed frequently. The food was provided without regard to behavior of the pigeons however six out of eight of them showed interesting behavior nevertheless. One bird would poke their head in one of the corner spaces in their cage frequently and the other would spin around counterclockwise in their cage. The majority of these actions were performed only in specific parts within the enclosure. It is possible to conclude that the birds could believe that doing these behaviors would result in them to be fed, even though they would have been fed regardless of the fact that they did or didn’t perform the actions. This study exposed some of the most shocking facts about pigeons. They proved that pigeons may become superstitious just like humans do.
5. Have A History Of Assisting Humans During Wartime
There are numerous things that tend to be overlooked in the history books and pigeons are just one of the most notable. This is a tale that will reveal an amazing fact about the pigeons. In 1870 and 1871, pigeons were taken out of Paris using balloons, and later utilized to send messages throughout France. This wasn’t the first time the pigeon’s talents were utilized during time of war: doves were employed to convey important messages during war in the beginning of the year 2500 BC during Sumer, Mesopotamia. Homing pigeons were extensively used during World War I, since messages carried by carrier pigeons were more efficient than messages sent by telegraph in the time. Due to various reasons, only a few percent of these birds survived. The majority of those who survived were given medals. They were awarded the Dickin Medal can be described as a prize that is given to animals who have demonstrated remarkable bravery in times of war. The number of Dickin awards have been given out so far and of those 32 of those who have received them were pigeons.
6. They Can Do Math
Recent studies in the last couple of years have demonstrated that pigeons understand basic, abstract math. They can be able to comprehend the ability to think numerically, something that was thought to be reserved for primates. In a research study that involved three pigeons, the researchers gave them three sets of items. One set contained only one object, while another set contained two objects, and the third set had three. The sets had diverse in shape and shades. Pigeons were taught to strike the sets by ascending the order of picking up the set with one object, followed by two, and finally three. After they were able to do this, they had nine set of items, each comprising 1-9 objects. The pigeons were able accurately pick each set-in ascending order even though they had only been taught to organize three. The study proved that pigeons are adept at understanding ordinal numbers as well as sequences. Pigeons that do math came in at the sixth spot in the list of facts about pigeons.
7. Pigeons Have Considerable Long-Term Memory
Of the lesser-known facts about pigeons, did have the knowledge that pigeons possess the ability to recall things. The study of facial recognition is proof of this. The study was repeated many times with the same results. The pigeons were able to recall the person who chased them away once and kept on reminiscing about the person who chased them away whenever they returned even when they were dressed in different clothes. Another study also assessed the memory for long-term use of the pigeons. The study carried out at the Mediterranean Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience tested the memorization capabilities of baboons as well as pigeons each other. Both the pigeons and babies were shown a picture as well as a color. They were trained to recall the color connected to each image. Pigeons were able remember anywhere between 800 and 1200 combinations of colors in pictures. Although they couldn’t recall as many combinations as baby pigeons could, they were able to recall a staggering amount.
8. Pigeons Never Forget- And They Never Forgive
A few of the astonishing facts about pigeons was revealed in a study a sometime back. According to a study conducted in 2011 it was discovered that wild pigeons can recognize human faces. They’re also extremely hard to trick. The study involved two researchers with similar physical characteristics wore lab coats with two distinct colors in the park. In the park, they both handled the pigeons very differently. One was calm and allowed the pigeons to eat while the other was aggressive and chased the birds away when they attempted to consume. Afterward they returned to the spot and neither tried to chase off the birds. Since then, the pigeons stayed away from the researcher who chased them away before. When researchers changed their lab coats with colors however, the pigeons were capable of determining which researcher been chasing them before. It is possible that the birds were able discern the researchers by their facial characteristics only.
9. Pigeons Are Able To Compromise
Birds of a Feather really can flock together, research has shown. A study by Oxford University armed homing pigeons with mini-GPS devices that tracked their movements. When flying with these pigeons were presented with a decision either to follow their noses to head directly home, or could join forces with another bird that was traveling in the same direction. It is amazing that if both pigeons were traveling on a route which was close enough, they would both agree to select a route within their destination. However, if they were headed to completely different locations, the pigeons wouldn’t compromise. In fact, one bird would serve as the “leader” towards their destination and the other would give in and took the lead. One of the most fascinating facts about pigeons is noting that the birds that were traveling together made it to their destinations more quickly than birds that go home by themselves. This indicates that homing pigeons can make collective decisions and compromises that may benefit their flight.
10. Homing Pigeons Have A Variety Of Navigational Techniques
Homing pigeons have earned themselves quite the reputation of being able to locate their way back home. What do they do to do it? There could be a few solutions to this question. For a homing pigeon its way back to home it must rely on two aspects which are their “map sense” which is where they draw clues from smells and landmarks to pinpoint the location of their current location and also their “compass sense” where they depend on the position and movement of the sun’s position to determine where they are. If any of these senses is affected then the birds will be not able to locate their way back home quickly. Humans might be able to understand the concept of a “map sense,” as we as well, tend to depend on landmarks to help us find our way back home when we’re lost. “Compass sense” is where the fun begins. What is it that makes it function? A few studies have shown that the ability of a pigeon to find its home may be affected when they are under artificial lighting. Additionally, that homing pigeons possess an internal compass that is believed to be situated near the front of their nose or head. The compass’s ‘compass’ is a response in the field of magnetic energy that is earth and serves as an additional tool to aid them in finding the way back home.
