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Carrier Pigeons: A real American Hero

Damn! My email is down. I’m tired of relying on my computer’s modem to communicate. If I only had a carrier pigeon…

<Flashback to WWI>… no more email; the radio is about as reliable as an irresponsible teenager’s pager…but in this time, there is another way.  This new way is one of the most amazing forms of communication ever…Pigeons!  Pigeons, actually capable of flying messages hundreds of miles to be delivered at a predetermined destination. Pigeons that can fly up to sixty miles per hour (SI 1).  Pigeons that will help win a war…but we’ll get to that later (Schenk 1). 

          <Back to now>…what were we thinking using such complicated things as modems, when all this time we could have been using pigeons?!  So I guess the next thing would be to go down to the pet store and buy one for myself.  Wait…that’s impossible, that species of pigeon does not exist anymore (SI 1).  So I guess knowledge is power, so learning all we can about these pigeons is the only way to still enjoy them.

          Well…back to the modem to do some research.  I guess it is not that bad after all.

 

           ˙During World War I radios were unreliable, because technology was unperfected.  If a radio was damaged the lines of communication were cut with no other alternatives except…the carrier pigeons (Schneck 1).  Sometimes terrain or location would not allow for radio use, but pigeons were trained to fly from anywhere to a specific base.  Carrier pigeons eventually carried thousands of messages, saving thousands of lives during both World War I and  World War II.  The first reconnaissance missions were actually done by pigeons with cameras fitted to them (Fig. 1)(Schneck 2).

˙Perhaps there has been a misconception about pigeons, people just seem to hate them, and are usually trying to get rid of them in some way. Pigeons are often referred to as the “Feathered Rats”, or “Gutter Birds”. I have never known a rat to deliver messages that saved lives, or a rodent that was awarded a military honor. Killing pigeons is not a sensible way to get rid of them. If they bother someone, simply disrupting their nest will probably make the pigeons move on. The urban pigeons are more social than the homing pigeons, and many people find it peaceful to watch or feed a group of pigeons. There are hundred of breeds of pigeons, used for everything from racing competition to performing aerial acrobatics! Pigeons grow extremely fast, almost doubling in size every other day for the first week of their lives. About thirty days after birth, the birds are ready to leave their nest (Interbug 2). We’ve found that pigeons typically live about ten to twenty years, and some have lived up to thirty-five years old, meaning pigeons live longer than man’s best friend!

 

 
˙Carrier pigeons from the early 1900’s were trained very similar to how people train the carrier pigeon’s close relative, the Photo of a winning back yard 'Garden Loft'.homing pigeon, now.  A homing pigeon’s house is about the size of a tool shed (Fig. 2). There are two or three different sections in the “house” to divide the younger pigeons from the older ones. These pigeons were eventually trained to compete in “races” of up to 600 miles in distance! For rookies, pigeons that are younger than 1 year old, they are only expected to race up to 300 miles! There have been “homers” who have returned from over 1000 miles, and are capable of flying 60 mph.  Children in Four-H and other agricultural clubs still race and train these pigeons using the some of the same texts that carrier pigeon trainers from World War I used (Interbug 1).  The children who compete in these races can win awards and medals of honor at big nationwide competitions.

 

 
Text Box: ˙Medals of Honor, for pigeons?  Over history not only the people who train the pigeons have won medals, but also the pigeons themselves.  Cher Ami (Fig. 3), the most famous carrier pigeon, registered as a Black Check Cock belonged to the 77th infantry. He was presented with the French “Croix de Guerre” after saving an entire battalion (SI 1). Cher Ami was the only pigeon left in the Lost Battalion. The men attached a note with their location onto Cher Ami’s leg. Cher Ami flew to headquarters despite losing a leg and a wing. Because of Cher Ami’s heroism, the 77th infantry was able to advance closest to the German Frontier than any other troops (U.S.A.R. 1). This heroic journey became Cher Ami’s last trip back to headquarters…Cher Ami perished in 1919 after saving 252 men. In 1931, he was inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall or Fame and was awarded a gold medal from the Organized Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers.  Cher Ami’s body is on display at the Smithsonian Institute (SI 1). Another famous pigeon was GI Joe, a veteran of the Second World War. GI Joe Pigeon is credited with helping save over a thousand allied soldiers by delivering a single message.

˙So how do these pigeons even know where to go?  Well, the truth is that scientists do not really understand how pigeons are so good at always finding their way back to specific spots.  There are a few theories that have been published all over the world.  Hiroshima University President Yasuo Harada proved his theory last year that “traces of iron found in the otolith organs located in the inner ear of birds enables them to find their way back to their nests” (JT 1).  Harada conducted an experiment where he cut the nerve linking the otolith organ to the brain or by implanting metallic fragments into their inner ears. Only one of the birds with the broken link returned to its nest. Twenty-one regular birds were released, and they all returned to their nest. So, according to that theory, pigeons have internal compasses that help them find their way.

 ˙Other ideas of pigeon navigation include astronomical navigation, which claims that pigeons can tell the time of day and their global position based on the position of the sun. Another idea is that pigeons have super-sensitive hearing and can hear tones that humans cannot. Along with this, some think that pigeons have super smelling abilities and can smell their home from miles and miles away. The most entertaining theory that we have found is the notion that pigeons have psychic abilities and can sense their homes through a telepathic link with their owners or mates, bringing them back to their home.

˙After some research, we have decided that we agree with Harada’s theory. It is difficult to believe that a pigeon can determine its “global” location based only on the position of the sun. The memory of a pigeon could not be very long-term, so it makes more sense to us that the ability to return home is instinctive. The “psychic pigeon” idea sounds more like something you would hear from Ms. Cleo.

 

˙ It is important to distinguish between a carrier pigeon and a passenger pigeon. Carrier pigeons are still abundant have been used in wartime as recently as the Gulf War by the Iraqi forces. Carrier pigeons are sometimes referred to as homing pigeons. The distinction basically depends on what the pigeons are being used for, either carrying a message or in competition. The passenger pigeon became extinct in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.

˙The only reason that armed forces originally settled on the carrier pigeons was that the passenger pigeons were rapidly dying off and even the government could not save the last of the species.  The last passenger pigeon, Martha (Fig. 4), died on September 1, 1914.  She had been living in the Cincinnati Botanical Gardens as a tourist attraction for the Cincinnati Zoo.  Martha lived to be 29 years old.  She was the last of her species for the remaining 5 years of her life.  To think about being the only one of your kind, and virtually alone for the last five years of your pigeon life, is intense.  We cannot even begin to fathom the feeling of that kind of isolation (SI 3).

˙So what about the pigeons that are still alive today?  How can civilians be involved with carrier pigeons now?  Well…from writing this paper, we have learned that there are numerous web sites devoted to pigeons dealing with both pigeon breeding and racing.  You can buy good racing pigeons over the Internet and even keep up on the competition tracks (auction.com 1).

Raising pigeons is an extra-curricular activity. Children may take interest in pigeons, and stay out of trouble by spending time with their birds instead of hanging out with local street hoodlums and doing drugs in the alley behind Long John Silvers.  Having pigeons is not all fun and racing games, however.  Pigeons need daily care and attention; they require vaccines, food dispensers, and a well-kept habitat.  In many ways, the pet pigeons require more responsibility than a normal cat or dog, and children can learn many lessons by caring for these birds.

After writing this paper we can honestly say that our opinion of pigeons has gone from little respect (we both absolutely hated them, to be honest) to a profound understanding of what they are, and how majestic and interesting they can be. There is so much to be learned and respected about these birds. They have truly completed some of the most amazing journeys, yet they are often forgotten or even insulted by the public. If more people would take the time to learn about pigeons, we would all have a new hero for our country.

While there is a pigeon hall of fame, we feel that there needs to be more education of carrier and passenger pigeons in school. Often, pigeons are entirely overlooked in school texts, even though they played such a pivotal role in our countries independence, yet there is no mention of the carrier pigeons in history textbooks.  Pigeons really are the true unknown soldiers…we would like to be the ones to change that.