{"id":1602,"date":"2020-05-30T12:10:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T12:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racingpigeonsport.com\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2022-12-16T21:25:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T21:25:15","slug":"pigeon-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racingpigeonsport.com\/pigeon-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"10 interesting facts about pigeons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Most people in the mainstream don’t think of pigeons as particularly exciting animals since they’re so common in both cities and rural areas. However, there’s a lot more to these incredible creatures than meets the eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Every animal has its own amazing secrets and surprises. Here are some of the pigeons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are a few theories when it comes to the homing pigeon’s ability to find it’s way home. Some say that they can see the stars during the day, while others claim that its due to their remarkable ability to sense magnetic fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another theory is that they use something called “Olfactory navigation<\/a>“, which, put simply, is the ability to use odours, even over long distances, to navigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some biologists believe that their uncanny homing abilities may be down to a combination of different systems. Whatever the case may be, these birds’ ability to find their way home is unparalleled by most animal species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pigeons can reach a stunning altitude of over 6,000 feet. They can also fly extremely fast, averaging about 77.6 mph. The fastest pigeon ever recorded set the flight speed record at a whopping 92.5 mph!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the wild, the average pigeon lives around six years, which is quite a long time for such a small bird. Even more surprising, however, is that pigeons that live in captivity, such as racing pigeons, can live up to fifteen years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until recently, humans assumed that the only other animals capable of understanding abstract numerical concepts were primates. However, in a study published at PubMed.gov<\/a>, it was discovered that pigeons performed just as well as monkeys when it came to understanding numerical values! <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the average person might have difficulty distinguishing individual pigeons apart, pigeons are great at recognizing different humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Studies have shown that untrained pigeons can recognize different humans, even after a change of clothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While we still don’t know for sure exactly how they can recognize individuals, they are likely able to memorize facial features. This ability to tell people apart becomes obvious when strangers visit the loft and the birds sometimes appear spooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This study<\/a> published on Springer revealed that pigeons are capable of solving complex problems as well as understanding patterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were given a choice between two strings, only one of which was attached to a reward, the pigeons in the study were able to consistently recognize which string would result in a treat, and they pulled it nearly every time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Humans are famous for their ability to categorize everything we see into neat little boxes. According to The University of Iowa<\/a>, however, humans aren’t the only ones that can do this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pigeons can use selective attention to determine which objects are important versus which objects are not, and they can also place everyday objects into distinct categories. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFlight speeds and altitudes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They’re surprisingly long-lived<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pigeons are on par with primates in numerical competence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They can tell one person from another<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They are competent problem solvers that can make intelligent choices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They can categorize objects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pigeons may be able to decipher medical images<\/h3>\n\n\n\n