How Smart Is This Bird?

How Smart Is This Bird? Let It Count the Ways
By James Gorman

By now, the intelligence of birds is well known. Alex the African gray parrot had great verbal skills. Scrub jays, which hide caches of seeds and other food, have remarkable memories. And New Caledonian crows make and use tools in ways that would put the average home plumber to shame.

Pigeons, it turns out, are no slouches either. It was known that they could count. But all sorts of animals, including bees, can count. Pigeons have now shown that they can learn abstract rules about numbers, an ability that until now had been demonstrated only in primates. In the 1990s scientists trained rhesus monkeys to look at groups of items on a screen and to rank them from the lowest number of items to the highest.

They learned to rank groups of one, two and three items in various sizes and shapes. When tested, they were able to do the task even when unfamiliar numbers of things were introduced. In other words, having learned that two was more than one and three more than two, they could also figure out that five was more than two, or eight more than six.

Damian Scarf, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Otago, in New Zealand, tried the same experiment with pigeons, and he and two colleagues report in the current issue of the journal Science that the pigeons did just as well as the monkeys.

Elizabeth Brannon, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, and one of the scientists who did the original experiments with monkeys, was impressed by the new results. “Their performance looks just like the monkeys’,” she said.

Score one for the birds. The pigeons had learned an abstract rule: peck images on a screen in order, lower numbers to higher. It may have taken a year of training, with different shapes, sizes and colors of items, always in groups of one, two or three, but all that work paid off when it was time for higher math.

Given groups of six and nine, they could pick, or peck, the images in the right order. This is one more bit of evidence of how smart birds really are, and it is intriguing because the pigeons’ performance was so similar to the monkeys’. “I was surprised,” Dr. Scarf said.

He and his colleagues wrote that the common ability to learn rules about numbers is an example either of different groups — birds and primates, in this case — evolving these abilities separately, or of both pigeons and primates using an ability that was already present in their last common ancestor.

That would really be something, because the common ancestor of pigeons and primates would have been alive around 300 million years ago, before dinosaurs and mammals. It may be that counting was already important, but Dr. Scarf said that if he had to guess, he would lean toward the idea that the numerical ability he tested evolved separately. “I can definitely see why both monkeys and pigeons could profit from this ability,” he said.

No testing has been done with numbers greater than nine, so whether a pigeon can count large numbers of bread crumbs or popcorn kernels is a question still open to investigation.

12 Amazing Facts You Didn't Know About Pigeons

by EVOLVE! Campaigns

How old are pigeons?

Pigeons have lived alongside man for thousands of years with the first images of pigeons being found by archaeologists in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and dating back to 3000 BC. It was the Sumerians in Mesopotamia that first started to breed white doves from the wild pigeon that we see in our towns and cities today and this undoubtedly accounts for the amazing variety of colors that are found in the average flock of urban pigeons. To ancient peoples a white pigeon would have seemed miraculous and this explains why the bird was widely worshipped and considered to be sacred. Throughout human history the pigeon has adopted many roles ranging from symbols of gods and goddesses through to sacrificial victims, messengers, pets, food and even war heroes!

Biblical references

The first biblical reference to the pigeon (or dove) was in the Old Testament of the Bible in the first millennium AC and was the story of Noah and the dove of peace. Later, in the New Testament, the pigeon was first mentioned during the baptism of Christ where the dove descended as the Holy Spirit, an image now used extensively in Christian art. These early biblical references have paved the way for the many different ways that the urban pigeon is viewed in modern societies worldwide. Perception of the pigeon through the centuries has changed from God to the devil and from hero to zero!

Pigeon poop – foul or fantastic?

Although pigeon poo is seen as a major problem for property owners in the 21st Century, it was considered to be an invaluable resource in the 16th, 17th and 18th century in Europe. Pigeon poop was a highly prized fertiliser and considered to be far more potent than farmyard manure. So prized in fact that armed guards were stationed at the entrances to dovecotes (pigeon houses) to stop thieves stealing it! Not only this, but in England in the 16th century pigeon poop was the only known source of saltpetre, an essential ingredient of gunpowder and was considered a highly valued commodity as a result. In Iran, where eating pigeon flesh was forbidden, dovecotes were set up and used simply as a source of fertilizer for melon crops and in France and Italy it was used to fertilize vineyards and hemp crops.

The pigeon as a war hero

In modern times the feral pigeon has been used to great effect during wartime. In both the first and second World Wars the pigeon saved hundreds of thousands of human lives by carrying messages across enemy lines. Pigeons were carried on ships in convoys and in the event of a U-boat attack a messenger pigeon was released with details of the location of the sinking ship. In many cases this lead to the survivors being rescued and lives saved. Mobile pigeon lofts were set up behind the trenches in the First World War from which pigeons often had to fly through enemy fire and poison gas to get their messages home. The birds played a vital role in intelligence gathering and were used extensively behind enemy lines where the survival rate was only 10%. In the Second World War pigeons were used less due to advances in telecommunications, but the birds relayed invaluable information back to the allies about the German V1 and V2 Rocket sites on the other side of the Channel.

The pigeon as a messenger

The earliest large scale communication network using pigeons as messengers was established in Syria and Persia about 5th Century BC. Much later in the 12th Century AD the city of Baghdad and all the main towns and cities in Syria and Egypt were linked by messages carried by pigeons. This was the sole source of communication. In Roman times the pigeon was used to carry results of sporting events such as the Olympic Games and this is why. Games and this is why white doves are released at the start of the Olympic Games today. In England, prior to the days of telegraphs, pigeons were often taken to soccer matches and released to carry home the result of the game. Their use as a messenger in war time resulted in many pigeons being awarded honors by both the British and French Governments. Incredibly, the last ‘pigeon post’ service was abandoned in India in 2004 with the birds being retired to live out the rest of their days in peace.

'Rock Dove' or 'Pigeon

The feral pigeon that we see in our towns and cities today is descended from the Rock Dove (Columba livia), a cliff dwelling bird historically found in coastal regions. The word ‘pigeon’ is actually derived from the Latin word ‘pipio’ which meant ‘young bird’. The word then passed into Old French as ‘pijon’ and thus the English name ‘pigeon’ was derived and is now used the world over as a common name for the Rock Dove. Other common names include ‘domestic pigeon’ and the ‘feral pigeon’. In 2004 British and American Ornithologists officially re-named the bird the Rock Pigeon.

Mating habits of the pigeon

The feral pigeon mates for life and can breed up to 8 times a year in optimum conditions, bringing two young into the world each time. The frequency of breeding is dictated by the abundance of food. The eggs take 18/19 days to hatch with both parents incubating the eggs. Young dependant pigeons are commonly known as ‘squabs’. Both parents feed the young with a special ‘pigeon milk’ that is regurgitated and fed to the squabs. Each squab can double its birth weight in one day but it takes 4 days for the eyes to open. When squabs are hungry they ‘squeak’ whilst flapping their wings and as a result they are also commonly known as ‘squeakers’. At approximately 2 months of age the young are ready to fledge and leave the nest. This much longer than average time spent in the nest ensures that life expectancy of a juvenile pigeon is far greater than that of other fledglings.

How do pigeons navigate?

There are many theories about how pigeons manage to return ‘home’ when released 100’s of miles from their loft. A champion racing pigeon can be released 400-600 miles away from its home and still return within the day. This amazing feat does not just apply to ‘racing’ or ‘homing’ pigeons, all pigeons have the ability to return to their roost. A 10-year study carried out by Oxford University concluded that pigeons use roads and freeways to navigate, in some cases even changing direction at freeway junctions. Other theories include navigation by use of the earth’s magnetic field, visual clues such as landmarks, the sun and even infrasounds (low frequency seismic waves). Whatever the truth, this unique ability makes the pigeon a very special bird.

Pigeons as lifesavers

Although pigeons are one of the most intelligent of all the bird species man has found limited uses for the birds other than for the purposes of sport, food and as a message carrier. A team of navy researchers, however, has found that pigeons can be trained to save human lives at sea with high success rates. Project Sea Hunt has trained a number of pigeons to identify red or yellow life jackets when floating in the water. The pigeons were not only found to be more reliable than humans but they were also many times quicker than humans when it came to spotting survivors from a capsized or sinking boat. The pigeon can see color in the same way that humans do but they can also see ultra-violet, a part of the spectrum that humans cannot see, and this is one of the reasons they are so well adapted to lifesaving.

Pigeons in the news

One of the world’s most famous news agencies, Reuters, started its European business by using trained homing pigeons. The service was started in 1850 with 45 pigeons carrying the latest news and stock prices from Aachen in Germany to Brussels in Belgium. Although a telegraph service between the two countries existed, numerous gaps in the transmission lines made communication difficult and slow. The birds travelled the 76 miles in a record-breaking two hours beating the railway by four hours.

Why do you never see a baby pigeon?

Most small birds rear and fledge their young in 2/3 weeks with young birds sometimes leaving the nest after only 10 days of life, but pigeons are different, their young remain in the nest for up to 2 months before fledging. This gives the young pigeon an advantage over many other species of bird. It leaves the nest as a relatively mature juvenile, allowing the bird to cope better in the first few days of its life, a dangerous time for all youngsters. Juveniles can be told apart from adults but it takes an experienced eye. A juvenile’s beak often appears to be far too long for the size of its body and the cere (the fleshy area at the top of the beak) is white in adults and greyish pink in juveniles.

Are Pigeons Intelligent?

Pigeons are considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the planet with pigeons being able to undertake tasks previously thought to be the sole preserve of humans and primates. The pigeon has also been found to pass the ‘mirror test’ (being able to recognise its reflection in a mirror) and is one of only 6 species, and the only non-mammal, that has this ability. The pigeon can also recognise all 26 letters of the English language as well as being able to conceptualise. In scientific tests pigeons have been found to be able to differentiate between photographs and even differentiate between two different human beings in a photograph when rewarded with food for doing so.

Rachel Trachtenburg "Pigeon Song"

Pennsylvania Senate committee approves bill to ban live pigeon shoots

Referenced from US Humane Society:


The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to 3 today in favor of legislation to end target shoots with live pigeons once and for all. Pennsylvania holds the dishonor of being the last place where such cruel spectacles are regularly and openly allowed. SB 626, Sen. Pat Browne – District 16, now goes to the full Senate.

Pigeon shoots are bloody, wanton events where trapped birds are launched from boxes. Prizes are granted for shooters who kill the most.

“We thank Sen. Patrick Browne for tirelessly pushing this legislation to end cruel contests outlawed in most states, and Sen. Stewart Greenleaf and members of the Judiciary Committee for passing this legislation onto the Senate,” said Heidi Prescott, senior vice president for the Humane Society of the United States.

Today’s committee approval represented the first legislative vote on the issue in 11 years despite widespread opposition to these events.
Sen. Browne’s measure specifically states that traditional hunting activity is not included in the ban.

About pigeon shoots:

•Other supporters of SB 626 include the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, the Pennsylvania Federation of Humane Societies, The Pennsylvania Bar Association and the ASPCA.
•A small circuit of pigeon shoots exists in Pennsylvania, attracting out-of-state shooters who cannot participate in the activity considered animal cruelty in their home states.
•In pigeon shoots, the birds are launched one at a time from traps in front of shooters who blast away at close range.
•Typically, 70 percent of the birds released in pigeon shoots are wounded rather than killed outright, with some wounded animals escaping into the area to suffer for hours or days before dying.
•Like dogfighting and cockfighting the shoots are invitation-only events with participants said to bet large sums on the outcomes.
•In 1999, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that pigeon shoot participants could be prosecuted for animal cruelty leading to the ending of the annual Hegins Labor Day Pigeon Shoot. But shoots have continued at private clubs.

Living at Peace with Pigeons (pigeon lofts)

Living at Peace with Pigeons

How pigeon lofts are good news for birds – and also for cities
By Marleen Drijgers.

(Editor’s Note: In her previous post, Marleen Drijgers, the founder of the European Council for Humane and Effective Pigeon Control, described how many cities across Europe have stopped treating pigeons as pests and started to treat them as the beautiful birds they are. Now she explains how to create a good living space for them.)

In the late 1990s, the city of Rotterdam, Germany, laid out a plan to kill all its pigeons. I had already had success in persuading several town, in Holland, where I live, that mass killings do not reduce the population in the long term and are not only cruel but a waste of taxpayer money. So I was invited to address the council in Rotterdam. The majority of the council agreed with me and they vetoed the plan.

At the same time, I met a German artist, Stefan Gross, who was living and working in Rotterdam. Stefan told me that in two cities in Germany, pigeons were not being killed anymore. Instead, they were living in pigeon lofts donated by well-wishers. After our meeting, Stefan proceeded to design a modern loft for the pigeons of Rotterdam, and local bird associations began organizing with city councils, volunteers and private donors to have them installed and maintained.

When pigeons get a beautiful loft where they can eat and sleep, they also get a makeover in peoples’ minds. Because the lofts are good-looking, modern and practical, people stop thinking of their inhabitants as dirty, ugly, flying vermin. Good food results in good-looking, healthy birds of which a city can be proud. And the lofts themselves are artistic pieces of architecture.

The pigeon lofts

The lofts are made of aluminum, so they are not heavy. They are also insulated, so they’re cool in summer and warm in winter. And they’re attached to the rooftop of a building in a way that ensures they are storm-proof.

Not every city pigeon needs a loft. Lofts are for places where the birds gather in flocks, creating a nuisance. A pigeon loft is a humane solution that reduces complaints that droppings and nests are polluting buildings and apartment blocks.

The loft must be built close to places where the pigeons are already sleeping and nesting. A loft in a park does not solve the problem. Pigeons like sitting high on rooftops, so rooftops are good places for lofts.

Caring for the pigeons

To prevent a pigeon loft from becoming overcrowded, volunteers remove eggs and replace them with plastic eggs. Only when female pigeons brood very often do they leave a single egg that will hatch. In a loft where 150 pigeons sleep and brood, more than 300 eggs and more than 600 pounds of pigeon droppings will be removed each year. (Pigeon eggs are edible by humans, so I like to think the pigeons are paying the “rent” for their house in eggs.) We also provide them with a good mixture of cereals and seeds and fresh water daily.

Caring for the pigeons obviously takes some work. As I mentioned in my previous post, I became interested in pigeons through my neighbor, who used to put out food for them on her roof. I began to do the same thing, putting out a big bowl of drinking water and a small tub for bathing. It was lovely to see the pigeons splashing in the water and also grooming and looking after each other. Once a week, I had to clean my rooftop of pigeon dung, but I didn’t mind – the pleasure exceeded the nuisance.

In some European cities where pigeon lofts are taking hold, the people who look after the pigeons and clean the lofts are paid for their work. In others, this work is done by volunteers who love pigeons. It just takes a little organization to make sure the routine is maintained. And the small investment of paying someone to do this work is far less than the cost of pigeon extermination.

The new lifestyle we provide for the pigeons also increases their lifespan. Without a loft, a pigeon’s life expectancy is about 3 years. Pigeons living in a loft live longer because of the good food and the shelter from rain, snow and wind.

Also, for racing pigeons who get lost during the races, the lofts are a true sanctuary where they can live for the rest of their lives. (Most pigeon keepers are not interested in having them back, because there are no longer any prizes to be won with them.)

Here in the Netherlands, there are now pigeon lofts in five cities, and plans are in motion for three more cities. In Germany, there are lofts in almost 40 cities and there are also some in Belgium, France, Italy and the U.K. I’ve also had some inquiries from Athens in Greece.

More and more cities are seeing that this humane method is also effective, and more and more cities are discovering that installing lofts is far preferable to the senseless and cruel killing.

I hope that cities in the U.S. choose for pigeon lofts as well. They are peaceful birds, so we should let them live in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marleen Drijgers is the founder of the European Working Group for Effective Pigeon Control. You can contact her directly there for more information about creating a pigeon loft, or introduce her work to your local bird protection group.

There are no organized city programs in the United States yet to create lofts for city pigeons. For more information about helping pigeons in the United States, visit the New York Bird Club.

World's Largest Pigeon!

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Avitrol Corp Discontinues Sale of Avitrol

Several sources including the Humane Society of the United States as well as the Avitrol Corporation have reported the shutdown of the company that manufactures Avitrol. See the link for details.

A poison, Avitrol was used to reduce the number of birds at industrial, agricultural and urban sites. Use of the product was limited to licensed pest applicators and usually resulted in dead or dying birds. Introduced more than 25 years ago, Avitrol has long been opposed by animal welfare and conservation groups.

See letter from Avitrol Corp:
http://ovocontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Avitrol-Letter.pdf

The Ford Motor Company

Please flag this video as violent and inappropriate.

Canned Pigeon Hunt Exposed on CNN Headline NEWS show

15,000 Domestic Birds to be Shot for Target Practice
Thank you CNN Headline News for covering this story:
"Issues: With Jane Velez-Mitchell"

Activists travel to Pennsylvania almost every week to attend the pigeon shoots and document the event. They point out that Pennsylvania’s Animal Cruelty Law, Title 18, section 5511, prohibits a person from wantonly or cruelly ill-treating or abusing any animal. The law also prohibits neglect, abandonment, and deprivation of food, drink, shelter, or veterinary care. Pigeon shoots violate every one of these prohibitions. All of the information including videos can be downloaded below or at PigeonShoots.com.

Pigeon shoots are competitions wherein hundreds to thousands of live birds are shot at to win prizes. A typical 3-day shoot contest can kill and injure up to 15,000 birds. The next canned pigeon shoot event is scheduled for October 3, 2010.

The pigeons are captured and collected for weeks ahead of time, then released from trap boxes only yards away from the so-called “sportsmen”. The birds are generally dazed and suffering from dehydration or starvation as they are sprung out of the boxes.

Rather than mercifully being given a quick death, 70% of the birds are injured when shot and either left to suffer slow deaths or collected and killed by pigeon shoot “trapper boys” or “wringers”, traditionally children, who break their necks, step on them, tear off wings, suffocate them, or cut off their heads with garden shears, among other abuses.

Pigeon shoots are nothing more than a vile excuse for entertainment for the dull-witted or psychopathic. Illegal in other countries and in all but a couple of American states, most people realize the despicable nature of these bird-killing contests.

Activists vow to take the war against Pennsylvania’s remaining live pigeon shoots directly to the people, aided by a $1 million gift from former television personality Bob Barker.

Contact: Steve Hindi – President/Founder
Email: info@sharkonline.org
Phone: 630-557-0176
Visit: www.FreeAnimalVideo.org/breaking-news to get all the video.

The Fascinating Life and Times of the Humble Pigeon

If you´re a city dweller, chances are you see them everyday - strolling down the sidewalk with their friends, having lunch at a local cafe, or just hanging out in the park. But for as much as we share with our urban lifestyles, few animals are as misunderstood or as maligned as the humble pigeon. They are such a part of life around the world that it´s not so strange to hear otherwise sensible animal-lovers refer to pigeons as ¨rats with wings,¨ offering nary a word on their unique history or simple beauty. Perhaps the time is nigh to better understand our feathered city-dwelling neighbors who´ve been pigeonholed too long.

Of the 309 different species of pigeon, Rock Pigeons are the ones most acquainted with urban life - but despite the advantage they take of human infrastructure, there was a time that even they had to rough it. In fact, the species has been coolly strutting around for about 20 million years, long before the advent of bread crumbs or bronze statue perches. In the wild, the animals´ original habitat was on the rocky cliff sides of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Although nowadays many people aren´t big fans of the birds, one reason they´re so numerous today is that once pigeons were highly regarded. Between 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, the birds were first captured and raised by humans - primarily for food, but also to carry messages over long distances. The animals´ feathers, too, were prized for their attractive feathers and unique coloring. Selective breeding in centuries past is one reason that pigeon color patterns are so varied today.

Early on, humans took note of pigeons´ uncanny sense of finding their way home and employed them with carrier duties, giving rise to Messenger Pigeons. Even Julius Caesar took advantage of these clever birds, using pigeons to send war reports from the front line. The birds were used in a similar capacity for centuries, before radio and telephone communication made them pretty much obsolete. But some pigeons enlisted to aid in war efforts turned out to be quite brave as well.

One popular story from World War I surrounds a pigeon named Cher Ami, stationed with American troop fighting on the front-line in France. When soldiers from New York´s 77th Division found themselves under siege from friendly-fire, they tried sending a note via Messenger Pigeon to inform the other troops that they weren´t the enemy, but the bird was shot down. Another bird was sent, but it too was killed. In a desperate third attempt, the soldiers tied a note to Cher Ami: "Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" The bird was shot too, several times, but managed to keep flying until the message was delivered. For this bravery, Cher honors back home. His body can be seen at the Smithsonian Institute.

Despite occasionally being honored for their service in war-time, pigeons as a symbol are have quite a different reputation under their more flattering pseudonym - the dove.

But even the humble pigeon, as a city-dweller, doesn´t get credit where credit may be due, in part because of certain misconceptions that the birds spread disease to humans. Although they can carry parasites and viruses, like West Nile, pigeons are thought not to be transmitters of it. Still, many urban areas have gone to great lengths to dampen their presence about town.

London´s Trafalgar Square was once famed for its vibrant pigeon population, considered a tourist attraction in and of itself. In 2003, however, the city´s mayor banned the sale of pigeon food, hoping the birds would move on. Activist groups, like Save the Trafalgar Square Pigeons, sought to keep the birds around and continued to feed them anyways.

Other cities have taken a more drastic approach to combating pigeons, even resorting to the use of poisons, though the practice isn´t preferred since it can pose a threat to other animals too. Selectively removing fertilized eggs from specially installed coops and even birth control are amongst the other creative, slightly more humane solutions to too many pigeons in cities across the world.

It´s only been a few centuries since the birds were first brought to the Americas, but now the Rock Pigeon can be found in nearly every city in the world with a population numbering in the tens of millions. Some other pigeon species, however, haven´t fared quite as well. Eleven species of pigeon have gone extinct - like the famous over hunted Dodo bird - while several others are considered threatened.

City pigeons, though clearly outside of their natural habitat (just as we are, I suppose), are animals of unique talent a beauty - even if they may eat our refuse and occasionally sully our memorialized forebearers. Even pigeon loving groups have been established, like Cornell University´s Project Pigeon Watch, aiming to redefine how the world looks at the bird.

Who knows, with an open mind and little understanding, perhaps one day the pigeon will be thought of with a bit more respect, and even adoration. You´ve got to admit, they are pretty darn coo.