Homing Pigeon

Many times the question has been asked, 'How do pigeons find their way home - what is the secret of the homing instinct?' It seems more appropriate to call it a faculty because it is something which can be developed. For instance, birds can be moved from one loft location to another, settled in and then raced successfully to their new home.

The homing ability of pigeons has been the basis of discussion and experiment over the years, but most fanciers seem agreed that when the birds are released they orientate themselves by the sun, then set off in the correct direction for their home lofts.

One theory put forward was that birds pickup reaction from the earth's magnetic field and home along this; but this was discounted in an experiment by Dr G.V.T.Matthews of Cambridge about twenty years ago. He mounted very small but powerful magnets on the wing butts of pigeons, the magnets being arranged so that they totally disturbed the magnetic field. But although the birds took considerably longer, they still homed.

Fog and heavy cloud will slow birds down on their route, this giving added weight to the theory that they orientate by the sun. Yet surprisingly, the best flying days seem to be when there is broken blue sky and a slight wind; on very clear sunny days with the air still and with high temperatures, the birds seem to find the going really tough. On such days young birds are very easily lost from the loft itself. Electric storms also have an effect on the homing of pigeons. In fact some birds delayed by such a storm have been known to be absent from their loft for as long as six to twelve months.

In other words, the question of how pigeons find their way home remains a puzzle. If anyone ever finds the answer, the whole face of the sport could be changed.