Blog Post #4: EOTO: The Carrier Pigeon

 

“Look up in the sky! It’s a bird……it's a plane……it’s……Superman!” Well, as much as I would love to educate the public about Superman, this topic is almost just as unbelievable. Dating back to 2000 BC, Carrier Pigeons, also known as Homing Pigeons, were the main form of long distance communication. The ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians first discovered this impressive mode of long distance communication, then extended this remarkable communication system over to Greece and Rome. The Greeks recognized the internal compass of this bird, and relied on these creatures to fly and deliver important news, such as the winners of the Olympic games. Rome began utilizing this form of communication shortly thereafter, and relied on the birds to deliver messages to soldiers, as well as share the news and outcomes of battles. As we see in these examples, these birds were trusted and tasked with the most impressive duty. The birds' accuracy and consistency gained them popularity, as carrier pigeons became the main form of long distance and high speed communication for decades to come. Due to their impressive internal compass, they earned the name “homing pigeon”, due to their ability to always find their way back home to where they began their journey. These pigeons are originally raised in a home cage, learning this to be their safe spot, home, and starting destination. When they are sent out on their message delivering journeys, they are trained to return back to this originating point.

Carrier pigeons made their overall lasting impact with their leadership in warfare. For years, these birds were used to send and deliver messages relating to enemy movements, tactical plans, and general wins or losses. Messages were sent back and forth between European military units, dating into both World War I and World War II. In order to deliver a message, the note was placed into a very small capsule, then tied to the bird's foot. These amazing animals were more reliable than a human messenger, due to the fact that they could navigate through any terrain, dangerous battlegrounds, unfamiliar territory, or cross over enemy fire. Most impressively, they always knew how to return to where they started. 

While the birds were mainly used for communication, they were also extremely valuable to scientists, as they studied these creatures to understand more about migration and navigation. They discovered through these multitude of tests that these birds have an impressively sharp memory, aiding with their ability to seamlessly find their way back home. Additionally, scientists discovered that these animals could fly over 60 mph, covering hundreds of miles in a single trip. Their internal magnetic sense helps them to innately detect the earth's magnetic fields, along with using landmarks and other visual aids, allow them to have one of the most impressive navigation and location awareness. 

While the homing pigeon was a turning point in communication, this form of communication has been overthrown by modern technology. The telegram was the next technological development that threatened the use of the carrier pigeon when it was created in the early 19th century. Though we look at these inventions today and question the practicality, the helpfulness of these tools back in the day were viewed in the same manner that we view our smartphones today.