December 29, 2008
(source: SHARK)
Christmas came a day late for SHARK investigators, but the present Santa delivered was well worth the wait - the termination of pigeon shoots at the Straustown Rod and Gun Club. December 26 was supposed to be the first day of the annual three-day pigeon slaughter at the Straustown Club, located outside Strausstown, Pennsylvania. Yes, the Club is missing a "s" from its name - go figure. SHARK investigators spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day driving to Pennsylvania for this shoot.
Straustown has held hundreds of pigeon shoots for many years, with the late December shoot being the big end-of-the-year finale. You may recall that last November, SHARK investigators were on the scene to video document a shoot at the club when they encountered Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Kenneth Winter. Winter illegally ordered the investigators off public easement that had been used by shoot protesters and other observers for many years. See video here.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) came to SHARK's aid, contacting the Pennsylvania State Police and threatening court action if the police harassment continued. Interestingly, not a single police officer appeared on December 26, so apparently the police now agree with SHARK and the ACLU regarding the use of public easement.
Because of the ACLU's involvement, the pigeon shooters knew SHARK was coming for the end-of-the-year finale. They knew SHARK was going to video document not only the killing, but their faces and their automobiles and license plates, and SHARK was going to put it all on the internet.
These cowards, many of whom come from outside of Pennsylvania, don't want to be known as the animal abusers they truly are. They may have decided that feeding their bloodlust simply was not worth the certainty of exposure to the world. Shortly after SHARK's arrival on December 26, the first day of the three-day annual slaughter, the pigeon workers proceeded to dismantle the equipment used for pigeon shoots.
After three hours, all the equipment used for at least 15 years for the pigeon shoots was loaded onto pigeon supplier Don Bailey's truck and hauled away.
For two more mornings SHARK monitored the gun club, Don Bailey's house, and another gun club called Wing Pointe used for pigeon shoots. Nothing was happening. There was no massacre.
The end of pigeon shoots at the Straustown Rod and Gun Club is a historic event in animal protection. I can think of no club that had as many pigeon shoots as the Straustown club. Furthermore, the club is only about a mile from the home of Don Bailey, who supplies pigeons for pigeon shoots across Pennsylvania. This was the easiest and more profitable place for Bailey to produce his blood festivals. Every other place Bailey goes will be more difficult and expensive for him.
Pigeon shoots are under a great deal of pressure. There are ongoing lawsuits, and efforts to make pigeon shoots illegal in Pennsylvania, but still they persist. SHARK must continue to pursue these cold-blooded killers, not to mention other animal abusers involved in other cruel events such as rodeos.
The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people who commit acts of animal cruelty before, during or after live pigeon shoots.
Heidi Prescott, The HSUS' senior vice president of campaigns, states "We encourage anyone with information related to supplying birds, gambling or specific acts of cruelty occurring at shoots to come forward."
Individuals with information may call the toll-free live pigeon shoot tip line at 1-800-637-4124. Individuals may request to remain anonymous.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
World War 11 Pigeon Trainer Dies at 84
December 14, 2008
Richard Topus, a Pigeon Trainer in World War II, Dies at 84
By MARGALIT FOX
In January 1942, barely a month after Pearl Harbor, the United States War Department sounded a call to enlist. It wasn’t men they wanted — not this time. The Army was looking for pigeons.
To the thousands of American men and boys who raced homing pigeons, a popular sport in the early 20th century and afterward, the government’s message was clear: Uncle Sam Wants Your Birds.
Richard Topus was one of those boys. He had no birds of his own to give, but he had another, unassailable asset: he was from Brooklyn, where pigeon racing had long held the status of a secular religion. His already vast experience with pigeons — long, ardent hours spent tending and racing them after school and on weekends — qualified him, when he was still a teenager, to train American spies and other military personnel in the swift, silent use of the birds in wartime.
World War II saw the last wide-scale use of pigeons as agents of combat intelligence. Mr. Topus, just 18 when he enlisted in the Army, was among the last of the several thousand pigeoneers, as military handlers of the birds were known, who served the United States in the war.
A lifelong pigeon enthusiast who became a successful executive in the food industry, Mr. Topus died on Dec. 5 in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the age of 84. The cause was kidney failure, his son Andrew said.
Richard Topus was born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1924, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Growing up in Flatbush, he fell in love with the pigeons his neighbors kept on their rooftops in spacious coops known as lofts. His parents would not let him have a loft of his own — they feared it would interfere with schoolwork, Andrew Topus said — but he befriended several local men who taught him to handle their birds. Two of them had been pigeoneers in World War I, when the United States Army Pigeon Service was formally established.
Pigeons have been used as wartime messengers at least since antiquity. Before the advent of radio communications, the birds were routinely used as airborne couriers, carrying messages in tiny capsules strapped to their legs. A homing pigeon can find its way back to its loft from nearly a thousand miles away. Over short distances, it can fly a mile a minute. It can go where human couriers often cannot, flying over rough terrain and behind enemy lines.
By the early 20th century, advances in communications technology seemed to herald the end of combat pigeoneering. In 1903, a headline in The New York Times confidently declared, “No Further Need of Army Pigeons: They Have Been Superseded by the Adoption of Wireless Telegraph Systems.”
But technology, the Army discovered, has its drawbacks. Radio transmissions can be intercepted. Triangulated, they can reveal the sender’s location. In World War I, pigeons proved their continued usefulness in times of enforced radio silence. After the United States entered World War II, the Army put out the call for birds to racing clubs nationwide. Tens of thousands were donated.
In all, more than 50,000 pigeons served the United States in the war. Many were shot down. Others were set upon by falcons released by the Nazis to intercept them. (The British countered by releasing their own falcons to pursue German messenger pigeons. But since falcons found Allied and Axis birds equally delicious, their deployment as defensive weapons was soon abandoned by both sides.)
But many American pigeons did reach their destinations safely, relaying vital messages from soldiers in the field to Allied commanders. The information they carried — including reports on troop movements and tiny hand-sketched maps — has been widely credited with saving thousands of lives during the war.
Mr. Topus enlisted in early 1942 and was assigned to the Army Signal Corps, which included the Pigeon Service. He was eventually stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, one of several installations around the country at which Army pigeons were raised and trained. There, he joined a small group of pigeoneers, not much bigger than a dozen men.
Camp Ritchie specialized in intelligence training, and Mr. Topus and his colleagues schooled men and birds in the art of war. They taught the men to feed and care for the birds; to fasten on the tiny capsules containing messages written on lightweight paper; to drop pigeons from airplanes; and to jump out of airplanes themselves, with pigeons tucked against their chests. The Army had the Maidenform Brassiere Company make paratroopers’ vests with special pigeon pockets.
The birds, for their part, were trained to fly back to lofts whose locations were changed constantly. This skill was crucial: once the pigeons were released by troops in Europe, the Pacific or another theater, they would need to fly back to mobile combat lofts in those places rather than light out for the United States. Mr. Topus and his colleagues also bred pigeons, seeking optimal combinations of speed and endurance.
After the war, Mr. Topus earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Hofstra University. While he was a student, he earned money selling eggs — chicken eggs — door to door and afterward started a wholesale egg business. In the late 1950s, Mr. Topus became the first salesman at Friendship Food Products, a dairy company then based in Maspeth, Queens; he retired as executive vice president for sales and marketing. (The company, today based in Jericho, N.Y. and a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is now known as Friendship Dairies.)
In the 1960s and early ’70s, Mr. Topus taught marketing at Hofstra; the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University; and the State University of New York, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale, he taught at Arizona State University and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients.
Besides his son Andrew, of Chicago, Mr. Topus is survived by his wife, the former Jacqueline Buehler, whom he married in 1948; two other children, Nina Davis of Newton, Mass.; and David, of Atlanta; and four grandchildren.
Though the Army phased out pigeons in the late 1950s, Mr. Topus raced them avidly till nearly the end of his life. He left a covert, enduring legacy of his hobby at Friendship, for which he oversaw the design of the highly recognizable company logo, a graceful bird in flight, in the early 1960s.
From that day to this, the bird has adorned cartons of the company’s cottage cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and other products. To legions of unsuspecting consumers, Andrew Topus said last week, the bird looks like a dove. But to anyone who really knew his father, it is a pigeon, plain as day.
Richard Topus, a Pigeon Trainer in World War II, Dies at 84
By MARGALIT FOX
In January 1942, barely a month after Pearl Harbor, the United States War Department sounded a call to enlist. It wasn’t men they wanted — not this time. The Army was looking for pigeons.
To the thousands of American men and boys who raced homing pigeons, a popular sport in the early 20th century and afterward, the government’s message was clear: Uncle Sam Wants Your Birds.
Richard Topus was one of those boys. He had no birds of his own to give, but he had another, unassailable asset: he was from Brooklyn, where pigeon racing had long held the status of a secular religion. His already vast experience with pigeons — long, ardent hours spent tending and racing them after school and on weekends — qualified him, when he was still a teenager, to train American spies and other military personnel in the swift, silent use of the birds in wartime.
World War II saw the last wide-scale use of pigeons as agents of combat intelligence. Mr. Topus, just 18 when he enlisted in the Army, was among the last of the several thousand pigeoneers, as military handlers of the birds were known, who served the United States in the war.
A lifelong pigeon enthusiast who became a successful executive in the food industry, Mr. Topus died on Dec. 5 in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the age of 84. The cause was kidney failure, his son Andrew said.
Richard Topus was born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1924, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Growing up in Flatbush, he fell in love with the pigeons his neighbors kept on their rooftops in spacious coops known as lofts. His parents would not let him have a loft of his own — they feared it would interfere with schoolwork, Andrew Topus said — but he befriended several local men who taught him to handle their birds. Two of them had been pigeoneers in World War I, when the United States Army Pigeon Service was formally established.
Pigeons have been used as wartime messengers at least since antiquity. Before the advent of radio communications, the birds were routinely used as airborne couriers, carrying messages in tiny capsules strapped to their legs. A homing pigeon can find its way back to its loft from nearly a thousand miles away. Over short distances, it can fly a mile a minute. It can go where human couriers often cannot, flying over rough terrain and behind enemy lines.
By the early 20th century, advances in communications technology seemed to herald the end of combat pigeoneering. In 1903, a headline in The New York Times confidently declared, “No Further Need of Army Pigeons: They Have Been Superseded by the Adoption of Wireless Telegraph Systems.”
But technology, the Army discovered, has its drawbacks. Radio transmissions can be intercepted. Triangulated, they can reveal the sender’s location. In World War I, pigeons proved their continued usefulness in times of enforced radio silence. After the United States entered World War II, the Army put out the call for birds to racing clubs nationwide. Tens of thousands were donated.
In all, more than 50,000 pigeons served the United States in the war. Many were shot down. Others were set upon by falcons released by the Nazis to intercept them. (The British countered by releasing their own falcons to pursue German messenger pigeons. But since falcons found Allied and Axis birds equally delicious, their deployment as defensive weapons was soon abandoned by both sides.)
But many American pigeons did reach their destinations safely, relaying vital messages from soldiers in the field to Allied commanders. The information they carried — including reports on troop movements and tiny hand-sketched maps — has been widely credited with saving thousands of lives during the war.
Mr. Topus enlisted in early 1942 and was assigned to the Army Signal Corps, which included the Pigeon Service. He was eventually stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, one of several installations around the country at which Army pigeons were raised and trained. There, he joined a small group of pigeoneers, not much bigger than a dozen men.
Camp Ritchie specialized in intelligence training, and Mr. Topus and his colleagues schooled men and birds in the art of war. They taught the men to feed and care for the birds; to fasten on the tiny capsules containing messages written on lightweight paper; to drop pigeons from airplanes; and to jump out of airplanes themselves, with pigeons tucked against their chests. The Army had the Maidenform Brassiere Company make paratroopers’ vests with special pigeon pockets.
The birds, for their part, were trained to fly back to lofts whose locations were changed constantly. This skill was crucial: once the pigeons were released by troops in Europe, the Pacific or another theater, they would need to fly back to mobile combat lofts in those places rather than light out for the United States. Mr. Topus and his colleagues also bred pigeons, seeking optimal combinations of speed and endurance.
After the war, Mr. Topus earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Hofstra University. While he was a student, he earned money selling eggs — chicken eggs — door to door and afterward started a wholesale egg business. In the late 1950s, Mr. Topus became the first salesman at Friendship Food Products, a dairy company then based in Maspeth, Queens; he retired as executive vice president for sales and marketing. (The company, today based in Jericho, N.Y. and a subsidiary of Dean Foods, is now known as Friendship Dairies.)
In the 1960s and early ’70s, Mr. Topus taught marketing at Hofstra; the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University; and the State University of New York, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale, he taught at Arizona State University and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients.
Besides his son Andrew, of Chicago, Mr. Topus is survived by his wife, the former Jacqueline Buehler, whom he married in 1948; two other children, Nina Davis of Newton, Mass.; and David, of Atlanta; and four grandchildren.
Though the Army phased out pigeons in the late 1950s, Mr. Topus raced them avidly till nearly the end of his life. He left a covert, enduring legacy of his hobby at Friendship, for which he oversaw the design of the highly recognizable company logo, a graceful bird in flight, in the early 1960s.
From that day to this, the bird has adorned cartons of the company’s cottage cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and other products. To legions of unsuspecting consumers, Andrew Topus said last week, the bird looks like a dove. But to anyone who really knew his father, it is a pigeon, plain as day.
Monday, December 8, 2008
World Animal Day
In this photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a Victoria crowned pigeon is seen at the Bronx Zoo in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/WCS, Julie Larsen Maher).
“World Animal Day was observed earlier this month - on October 4th. Started in Florence Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists, World Animal Day has since expanded its focus from its original intent, which was to bring attention to endangered or threatened species. The day is now set aside as a time to reflect on all of the animals we share this world with, and our involvement with them - and to spur action to commemorate that respectful relationship. Half the world’s mammals are declining in population and more than a third are probably threatened with extinction, according to an update of of the Red List (an inventory of biodiversity issued by the IUCN), released on October 6, 2008."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Two Pigeon Spies Are Arrested
Iran arrests two spy pigeons near nuclear facility
by James Exelby
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Pigeons have been flying military missions for at least 850 years. Two spy pigeons have been arrested in the vicinity of the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz, and handed over to the country's security services, local press reported on Monday.
Iranian paper E'temad-e Melli quoted an informed source as saying that one pigeon carrying a wired rod fixed to its body with the use of invisible threads had been caught near the Mihan Rose Water Company in Kashan, Isfahan province.
He added that the second bird, a black pigeon carrying a blue wired rod fixed to its back by invisible threads, had been caught at the beginning of the month.
The Natanz nuclear plant is alleged to be Iran's central facility for uranium enrichment to be used to build an atomic bomb, although there is some speculation that the site could be a front, while expansion of the centrifuge program goes on elsewhere.
The facility is located some 30km from the town of the same name, which itself is 70km from Kashan.
The use of pigeons in military operations dates back to at least the 12th century, originating in the Middle East.
The first recorded use of messenger pigeons was in 1150 in Baghdad and the great Mongol Genghis Khan made use of them soon after.
In 1860, Paul Reuter, who later founded Reuters press agency, used a fleet of over 45 pigeons to deliver news and stock prices between Brussels and Aachen. The outcome of the Battle of Waterloo was also first delivered by a pigeon to England.
In 1994, a medal awarded to a British pigeon working for British Intelligence during World War II sold for 9,200 pounds ($15,755).
The PDSA Dickin medal, the animal equivalent to the UK's highest military award for bravery, the Victoria Cross, was awarded to Commando the Pigeon, who had flown vital information, the location of German troops, industrial sites and injured British soldiers, out of occupied France in 1942.
Commando received his medal in 1945 for his "conspicuous bravery and devotion" before he was put out to stud.
by James Exelby
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Pigeons have been flying military missions for at least 850 years. Two spy pigeons have been arrested in the vicinity of the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz, and handed over to the country's security services, local press reported on Monday.
Iranian paper E'temad-e Melli quoted an informed source as saying that one pigeon carrying a wired rod fixed to its body with the use of invisible threads had been caught near the Mihan Rose Water Company in Kashan, Isfahan province.
He added that the second bird, a black pigeon carrying a blue wired rod fixed to its back by invisible threads, had been caught at the beginning of the month.
The Natanz nuclear plant is alleged to be Iran's central facility for uranium enrichment to be used to build an atomic bomb, although there is some speculation that the site could be a front, while expansion of the centrifuge program goes on elsewhere.
The facility is located some 30km from the town of the same name, which itself is 70km from Kashan.
The use of pigeons in military operations dates back to at least the 12th century, originating in the Middle East.
The first recorded use of messenger pigeons was in 1150 in Baghdad and the great Mongol Genghis Khan made use of them soon after.
In 1860, Paul Reuter, who later founded Reuters press agency, used a fleet of over 45 pigeons to deliver news and stock prices between Brussels and Aachen. The outcome of the Battle of Waterloo was also first delivered by a pigeon to England.
In 1994, a medal awarded to a British pigeon working for British Intelligence during World War II sold for 9,200 pounds ($15,755).
The PDSA Dickin medal, the animal equivalent to the UK's highest military award for bravery, the Victoria Cross, was awarded to Commando the Pigeon, who had flown vital information, the location of German troops, industrial sites and injured British soldiers, out of occupied France in 1942.
Commando received his medal in 1945 for his "conspicuous bravery and devotion" before he was put out to stud.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Pigeons Deserve Respect
Pigeons deserve respect: Animals in the News
Posted by Donna J. Miller/Plain Dealer Reporter October 17, 2008
Ever cursed a pigeon? Called the urban dwellers dirty and dumb? Shooed them away like dandruff on a lapel?
Maybe Mr. Pigeon will change your view.
He lived in a cage, in a house full of cats, with an elderly lady who died last year. Cleveland Animal Protective League humane officers took the cats, but wondered what to do with the caged bird. Winter was approaching. The pigeon was accustomed to indoor temperatures.
They called me, knowing I care for rescued chickens and other farm animals.
Mr. Pigeon moved into my semi-finished basement. He didn't seem to mind the cage, but I hated it. I let him loose in one room, where he flew about and perched on shelves and a ceiling fan.
Occasionally, a cat sneaked in. I panicked, but Mr. Pigeon strode up to full-grown felines without fear. He got beak to nose. He pulled tails. He scurried between their legs and pinched their bellies, sending them fleeing.
I stopped worrying about keeping him from cats and enjoyed the winter months watching him rule the room.
In spring, I let him go.
He wouldn't leave.
He soared from tree to tree to the garage roof. Ate cracked corn with ducks and geese. Slept on the door opener mounted to the ceiling of the garage. Hopped down steps and pushed through a cat door to nap in the cool basement on hot days. Ate face-to-face with cats, whom he could read.
He swooped away from Louie and Taxi, who would do him harm. He went for walks in the woods with Thomas. He wrestled with Bruno. Yes, wrestled. I wished I had a video camera.
When I got home from work, Mr. Pigeon would swoop into the garage and land on my car, cooing. One day, he didn't.
I scanned the trees. There sat a bird-eating Cooper's hawk.
But maybe Mr. Pigeon's story can bring better treatment to the birds of Cleveland this winter, where they struggle to survive, not among natural predators, but among people and cars.
Posted by Donna J. Miller/Plain Dealer Reporter October 17, 2008
Ever cursed a pigeon? Called the urban dwellers dirty and dumb? Shooed them away like dandruff on a lapel?
Maybe Mr. Pigeon will change your view.
He lived in a cage, in a house full of cats, with an elderly lady who died last year. Cleveland Animal Protective League humane officers took the cats, but wondered what to do with the caged bird. Winter was approaching. The pigeon was accustomed to indoor temperatures.
They called me, knowing I care for rescued chickens and other farm animals.
Mr. Pigeon moved into my semi-finished basement. He didn't seem to mind the cage, but I hated it. I let him loose in one room, where he flew about and perched on shelves and a ceiling fan.
Occasionally, a cat sneaked in. I panicked, but Mr. Pigeon strode up to full-grown felines without fear. He got beak to nose. He pulled tails. He scurried between their legs and pinched their bellies, sending them fleeing.
I stopped worrying about keeping him from cats and enjoyed the winter months watching him rule the room.
In spring, I let him go.
He wouldn't leave.
He soared from tree to tree to the garage roof. Ate cracked corn with ducks and geese. Slept on the door opener mounted to the ceiling of the garage. Hopped down steps and pushed through a cat door to nap in the cool basement on hot days. Ate face-to-face with cats, whom he could read.
He swooped away from Louie and Taxi, who would do him harm. He went for walks in the woods with Thomas. He wrestled with Bruno. Yes, wrestled. I wished I had a video camera.
When I got home from work, Mr. Pigeon would swoop into the garage and land on my car, cooing. One day, he didn't.
I scanned the trees. There sat a bird-eating Cooper's hawk.
But maybe Mr. Pigeon's story can bring better treatment to the birds of Cleveland this winter, where they struggle to survive, not among natural predators, but among people and cars.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Love a Pigeon Week
A delightful article on pigeons by Alicia. Love a Pigeon Week surpasses National Pigeon Day.
I am definitely not a bird lover. I tolerate small birds, like house sparrows, finches, whatever. In fact small ones can be rather cute. I like how sparrows in public places have the guts to hop close and try to steal your lunch, or whatever you happen to be carrying. Parakeets are even okay as far as other birds; i think they’re really pretty and they are usually in cages which helps. But it seems to me that the sheer ominosity (is that a word?) of the bigger birds such as ostriches seems to drown the impact of the number of small birds present in the world. I mean, no matter how many small and harmless ones exist, the big ones just look so menacing that it totally disregards how few they are. (Have you ever had an emu chase you? I have * shudder * and that’s probably why i have this problem with birds. Even seagulls look threatening up close, good grief.)
But there is one bird that i think is largely misunderstood and under appreciated, and that is the pigeon. Now before you leave my blog for good, consider my arguments. Pigeons are not aggressive. They make a pleasant cooing sound (at least some think it is pleasant). It is not their fault that they poop all over your car either. They can be rather funny at times, since they are supposed to act like small birds but are quite fat. They add alot of atmosphere and character to a city (at least I think so - when my family went to Chicago, i cannot tell you how much cooler the city was to me just because it had pigeons running around everywhere). Feeding them from your hand is also like the biggest world tourist thing ever, so they also provide entertainment for many crowds - not only for the ones feeding them, but also for those watching people feed them. Without pigeons, the song “Feed the Birds” in Mary Poppins would not have been made possible in front of the Notre Dame. Okay, maybe it is just a movie, but that is my favorite song from that film and it was also one of Walt Disney’s personal favorites, so pigeons are VERY important.
Plus, anyone who has been subjected to the PBS kids version of Curious George loves pigeons automatically, all thanks to Compass the homing pigeon who doesn’t really home. Compass is a representative for the true will of pigeons everywhere; and the true will of pigeons really has nothing to do with bothering us bipeds.
So, i say we should declare a national holiday: “Love a Pigeon Week.” It should be a week long because some people need six days to find a pigeon to love, and others need six days to work up the courage and tenacity to love one they already found. (Pastor Kevin is a step ahead right now - he just needs to find the pigeon that is so “annoyingly” cooing outside his office every day and give it a big hug so it will coo louder.)
So, there is my thought for the day. Not very profound, granted, but hopefully interesting nonetheless. Now go out and love a pigeon!
I am definitely not a bird lover. I tolerate small birds, like house sparrows, finches, whatever. In fact small ones can be rather cute. I like how sparrows in public places have the guts to hop close and try to steal your lunch, or whatever you happen to be carrying. Parakeets are even okay as far as other birds; i think they’re really pretty and they are usually in cages which helps. But it seems to me that the sheer ominosity (is that a word?) of the bigger birds such as ostriches seems to drown the impact of the number of small birds present in the world. I mean, no matter how many small and harmless ones exist, the big ones just look so menacing that it totally disregards how few they are. (Have you ever had an emu chase you? I have * shudder * and that’s probably why i have this problem with birds. Even seagulls look threatening up close, good grief.)
But there is one bird that i think is largely misunderstood and under appreciated, and that is the pigeon. Now before you leave my blog for good, consider my arguments. Pigeons are not aggressive. They make a pleasant cooing sound (at least some think it is pleasant). It is not their fault that they poop all over your car either. They can be rather funny at times, since they are supposed to act like small birds but are quite fat. They add alot of atmosphere and character to a city (at least I think so - when my family went to Chicago, i cannot tell you how much cooler the city was to me just because it had pigeons running around everywhere). Feeding them from your hand is also like the biggest world tourist thing ever, so they also provide entertainment for many crowds - not only for the ones feeding them, but also for those watching people feed them. Without pigeons, the song “Feed the Birds” in Mary Poppins would not have been made possible in front of the Notre Dame. Okay, maybe it is just a movie, but that is my favorite song from that film and it was also one of Walt Disney’s personal favorites, so pigeons are VERY important.
Plus, anyone who has been subjected to the PBS kids version of Curious George loves pigeons automatically, all thanks to Compass the homing pigeon who doesn’t really home. Compass is a representative for the true will of pigeons everywhere; and the true will of pigeons really has nothing to do with bothering us bipeds.
So, i say we should declare a national holiday: “Love a Pigeon Week.” It should be a week long because some people need six days to find a pigeon to love, and others need six days to work up the courage and tenacity to love one they already found. (Pastor Kevin is a step ahead right now - he just needs to find the pigeon that is so “annoyingly” cooing outside his office every day and give it a big hug so it will coo louder.)
So, there is my thought for the day. Not very profound, granted, but hopefully interesting nonetheless. Now go out and love a pigeon!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Pigeon Intelligence
Bird's-eye view of big pictures
Chris Fulton | October 02, 2008
ART critics beware: when it comes to appraising the works of Monet and Picasso, the humble pigeon can give you a run for your aesthetic money.
The surprising discovery by Japanese neuropsychologist Shigeru Watanabe at Keio University adds to earlier research revealing that the multi-talented birds can also hear the difference between Bach and Stravinsky.
Watanabe put the pigeons to the artist challenge as part of his study on how pigeons think and process information. He says the work may provide important clues to the mystery of how humans see and interpret art.
According to Watanabe, who reported his findings in the journal Animal Cognition, birds, like humans, rely on their eyesight to find food, make a home and avoid their predators. Such selective pressures give pigeons and humans a heightened visual ability, which by chance enables both species to appreciate the subtle nuances of artistic style.
"These observations suggest the visual functions of pigeons are comparable (with those of) humans," Watanabe says.
Commenting on the research, visual neuroethologist Jochen Zeil, from the Australian National University, says the findings are no laughing matter. "I'm not surprised that they found pigeons could distinguish the fine details of paintings," he says.
Zeil notes that people often underestimate how well other animals can see. "This research gives us a better appreciation of how amazing animals other than ourselves are in terms of their visual abilities," he says.
In order to tease out the critical faculties of pigeons, Watanabe and his colleagues first showed a pigeon 10 paintings by Monet. Then they asked the same pigeon to identify -- peck out -- a different work by the same artist from a mixture of paintings by Monet, Renoir, Matisse and Delacroix. The pigeons were able to do this for a range of other artists as well, including Picasso, Van Gogh and Chagall.
After testing 21-year-old psychology students with the same paintings, Watanabe found that pigeons and humans were on a par with their artistic detective work.
Even when the paintings were converted to black and white, both the pigeons and the students could still identify the artist correctly. And when other aspects of the images were changed, such as blurring of the finer brushstroke details, both groups got the answer wrong.
According to Watanabe, the results suggest that pigeons and people assess multiple characteristics of an object when making a judgment, such as the particular combination of colour and pattern.
Chris Fulton | October 02, 2008
ART critics beware: when it comes to appraising the works of Monet and Picasso, the humble pigeon can give you a run for your aesthetic money.
The surprising discovery by Japanese neuropsychologist Shigeru Watanabe at Keio University adds to earlier research revealing that the multi-talented birds can also hear the difference between Bach and Stravinsky.
Watanabe put the pigeons to the artist challenge as part of his study on how pigeons think and process information. He says the work may provide important clues to the mystery of how humans see and interpret art.
According to Watanabe, who reported his findings in the journal Animal Cognition, birds, like humans, rely on their eyesight to find food, make a home and avoid their predators. Such selective pressures give pigeons and humans a heightened visual ability, which by chance enables both species to appreciate the subtle nuances of artistic style.
"These observations suggest the visual functions of pigeons are comparable (with those of) humans," Watanabe says.
Commenting on the research, visual neuroethologist Jochen Zeil, from the Australian National University, says the findings are no laughing matter. "I'm not surprised that they found pigeons could distinguish the fine details of paintings," he says.
Zeil notes that people often underestimate how well other animals can see. "This research gives us a better appreciation of how amazing animals other than ourselves are in terms of their visual abilities," he says.
In order to tease out the critical faculties of pigeons, Watanabe and his colleagues first showed a pigeon 10 paintings by Monet. Then they asked the same pigeon to identify -- peck out -- a different work by the same artist from a mixture of paintings by Monet, Renoir, Matisse and Delacroix. The pigeons were able to do this for a range of other artists as well, including Picasso, Van Gogh and Chagall.
After testing 21-year-old psychology students with the same paintings, Watanabe found that pigeons and humans were on a par with their artistic detective work.
Even when the paintings were converted to black and white, both the pigeons and the students could still identify the artist correctly. And when other aspects of the images were changed, such as blurring of the finer brushstroke details, both groups got the answer wrong.
According to Watanabe, the results suggest that pigeons and people assess multiple characteristics of an object when making a judgment, such as the particular combination of colour and pattern.
Monday, September 15, 2008
NY Senator Krueger Urges PA Legislature to Ban Pigeon Shoots
Source: The Humane Society of the United States
New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-26) sent a letter (follows below) to the Pennsylvania State Legislature advocating a ban on live pigeon shoots, highlighting the burden that demand for New York City pigeons as live targets places on New York law enforcement agencies.
A Pennsylvania bill to ban live pigeon shoots is pending in the state legislature and is expected to be voted on this week. More info on the bill and issue is available at The Humane Society of the United States' website.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Senator Urges Pennsylvania Legislature to Gun Down Pigeon Shoots
(Sept. 15, 2008)- New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-26) sent a letter to the Pennsylvania State Legislature advocating a ban on live pigeon shoots, highlighting the burden that demand for New York City pigeons as live targets places on New York law enforcement agencies.
"I urge the Pennsylvania State Legislature to ban the cruel practice of live pigeon shoots," said Sen. Krueger. "If the demand for live birds to kill during Pennsylvania pigeon shoots were ended through legislation, these pigeon nettings would undoubtedly dramatically decline and most likely cease."
Recent media reports have highlighted the link between illegal pigeon capture in New York City and the trafficking of birds across state lines to be used in pigeon shoots. Pennsylvania is the last state to openly host these events. Sen. Krueger noted that New York banned captive live pigeon shoots in 1874.
City residents have witnessed individuals scattering seed or bait for birds, throwing a net over the animals and placing them in the back of vehicles. Birds reportedly arrive to the shoots already malnourished, dehydrated or dead.
"For the past 20 years, tens of thousands of birds have suffered while Pennsylvania citizens called for legislation banning pigeon shoots," said Heidi Prescott, senior vice president for The Humane Society of the United States. "Now the Pennsylvania Legislature's embarrassing failure to act on this reasonable measure has caught the attention of a legislator in another state."
The HSUS offers a standing $2,500 reward for information related to nettings, gambling and other illegal activity connected to live pigeon shoots. Individuals with information may call the toll-free live pigeon shoot tip line at 1-800-637-4124.
Facts
* The Pennsylvania Legislature has failed to pass any animal protection legislation this session.
* In pigeon shoots, birds are released one at time from boxes to be shot by individuals standing just a few yards away. The shooters are awarded prizes based on whether the wounded or dead animal lands inside a scoring area.
* During past live pigeon shoots, participants have snipped the heads off live birds with gardening shears, beaten wounded pigeons against barrels, buried wounded animals with dead ones in containers and abandoned wounded animals.
* At least 1,000 birds are typically used for a one-day shoot.
The HSUS works to stop wildlife abuse across the country. Visit http://www.humanesociety.org/wildlifeabuse for more information.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization - backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty - On the web at http://www.humanesociety.org
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
humanesociety.org
Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty
NY Senator Krueger's Letter to Pennsylvania Legislature
Dear Legislator,
On behalf of my constituents in the 26th Senate Legislative District of New York, I encourage you to support legislation to end pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. It is my understanding that Pennsylvania openly hosts these events where captive birds are released or launched from boxes and shot within a ring for prizes and money. Unfortunately, it is not only Pennsylvania that is affected, the constant demand for animals to supply these events has spurred an associated animal cruelty issue in New York State in the form of pigeon poaching.
These poaching activities present an undue law enforcement challenge within my district, the Upper East Side of New York City, and other areas within the city. Capturing or netting pigeons is illegal, yet within my district residents repeatedly witness individuals scattering seed or bait for birds, throwing a net over the animals and placing these birds in the back of vehicle. The birds are then kept in crowded conditions and transported across state lines to shoots in Pennsylvania.
If the Pennsylvania pigeon shoot market for live birds to target in these competitions were ended through legislation, these pigeon nettings would undoubtedly dramatically decline and most likely, cease. I know of no other economic incentive for individuals to capture thousands of pigeons at a time, repeatedly throughout the year in New York. In fact, New York bannned captive live pigeon shoots in 1874.
As you might imagine, our city's law enforcement bodies would rather spend their time and resources on priorities that do not include investigating frequent reports of pigeon capture.
Finally, the cruelty inherent in shooting launched animals that do not have an opportunity to escape the gun and knowing that it is our own state's wildlife killed in such a manner, is quite distressing to my constituents who value the humane treatment of animals. Again, I urge you to pass legislation before the fall shoot season starts again and increases the demand for our birds.
I thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Liz Krueger
State Senator
Related press: The Daily Gotham
New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-26) sent a letter (follows below) to the Pennsylvania State Legislature advocating a ban on live pigeon shoots, highlighting the burden that demand for New York City pigeons as live targets places on New York law enforcement agencies.
A Pennsylvania bill to ban live pigeon shoots is pending in the state legislature and is expected to be voted on this week. More info on the bill and issue is available at The Humane Society of the United States' website.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Senator Urges Pennsylvania Legislature to Gun Down Pigeon Shoots
(Sept. 15, 2008)- New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-26) sent a letter to the Pennsylvania State Legislature advocating a ban on live pigeon shoots, highlighting the burden that demand for New York City pigeons as live targets places on New York law enforcement agencies.
"I urge the Pennsylvania State Legislature to ban the cruel practice of live pigeon shoots," said Sen. Krueger. "If the demand for live birds to kill during Pennsylvania pigeon shoots were ended through legislation, these pigeon nettings would undoubtedly dramatically decline and most likely cease."
Recent media reports have highlighted the link between illegal pigeon capture in New York City and the trafficking of birds across state lines to be used in pigeon shoots. Pennsylvania is the last state to openly host these events. Sen. Krueger noted that New York banned captive live pigeon shoots in 1874.
City residents have witnessed individuals scattering seed or bait for birds, throwing a net over the animals and placing them in the back of vehicles. Birds reportedly arrive to the shoots already malnourished, dehydrated or dead.
"For the past 20 years, tens of thousands of birds have suffered while Pennsylvania citizens called for legislation banning pigeon shoots," said Heidi Prescott, senior vice president for The Humane Society of the United States. "Now the Pennsylvania Legislature's embarrassing failure to act on this reasonable measure has caught the attention of a legislator in another state."
The HSUS offers a standing $2,500 reward for information related to nettings, gambling and other illegal activity connected to live pigeon shoots. Individuals with information may call the toll-free live pigeon shoot tip line at 1-800-637-4124.
Facts
* The Pennsylvania Legislature has failed to pass any animal protection legislation this session.
* In pigeon shoots, birds are released one at time from boxes to be shot by individuals standing just a few yards away. The shooters are awarded prizes based on whether the wounded or dead animal lands inside a scoring area.
* During past live pigeon shoots, participants have snipped the heads off live birds with gardening shears, beaten wounded pigeons against barrels, buried wounded animals with dead ones in containers and abandoned wounded animals.
* At least 1,000 birds are typically used for a one-day shoot.
The HSUS works to stop wildlife abuse across the country. Visit http://www.humanesociety.org/wildlifeabuse for more information.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization - backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty - On the web at http://www.humanesociety.org
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
humanesociety.org
Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty
NY Senator Krueger's Letter to Pennsylvania Legislature
Dear Legislator,
On behalf of my constituents in the 26th Senate Legislative District of New York, I encourage you to support legislation to end pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. It is my understanding that Pennsylvania openly hosts these events where captive birds are released or launched from boxes and shot within a ring for prizes and money. Unfortunately, it is not only Pennsylvania that is affected, the constant demand for animals to supply these events has spurred an associated animal cruelty issue in New York State in the form of pigeon poaching.
These poaching activities present an undue law enforcement challenge within my district, the Upper East Side of New York City, and other areas within the city. Capturing or netting pigeons is illegal, yet within my district residents repeatedly witness individuals scattering seed or bait for birds, throwing a net over the animals and placing these birds in the back of vehicle. The birds are then kept in crowded conditions and transported across state lines to shoots in Pennsylvania.
If the Pennsylvania pigeon shoot market for live birds to target in these competitions were ended through legislation, these pigeon nettings would undoubtedly dramatically decline and most likely, cease. I know of no other economic incentive for individuals to capture thousands of pigeons at a time, repeatedly throughout the year in New York. In fact, New York bannned captive live pigeon shoots in 1874.
As you might imagine, our city's law enforcement bodies would rather spend their time and resources on priorities that do not include investigating frequent reports of pigeon capture.
Finally, the cruelty inherent in shooting launched animals that do not have an opportunity to escape the gun and knowing that it is our own state's wildlife killed in such a manner, is quite distressing to my constituents who value the humane treatment of animals. Again, I urge you to pass legislation before the fall shoot season starts again and increases the demand for our birds.
I thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Liz Krueger
State Senator
Related press: The Daily Gotham
Friday, September 12, 2008
"Safe Feeding Zones" for Pigeons
According to a recent article in the Columbia Spectator, the Humane Society of the US is negotiating with New York City lawyers to put into place pigeon "safe feeding zones" or restricted feeding areas. Can this be nothing more than pigeon discrimination, or will safe feeding zones for other wildlife follow in the future. I hope this plan is not an attempt to reduce the numbers of pigeons in Manhattan as pigeon populations have been declining steadily over the past several years and there is no need for pigeon control.
"As for those who enjoy playing with the pigeons, I think it is my duty to suggest that we follow the Humane Society’s plan for the city, called “safe feeding zones.” In negotiations with Councilman Simcha Felder (44th District, Brooklyn), the HS is working with city lawyers to draw up a plan that will allow the feeding of pigeons in parks, on the grass, away from the heavily trafficked areas.
We can do the same thing at Columbia. We can feed the pigeons only on the grassy areas and abstain from inviting them to dine on the steps or any concrete places where people may sit. At least on the grass, their poop can actually function as fertilizer, and those of us who relax on the grass generally do so in our casual clothes, not our Sunday finest.
The Humane Society also advises that we feed only as much as the birds will consume in five to ten minutes, rather than feed with the clockwork regularity that conditions the birds to appear at the same place, same time, every day—and attract more and more of their compatriots over time."
Here are some examples of how other areas have dealt with pigeons in their cities. (Source: PETA)
✔Basel, Switzerland: From 1988 to 1992, Basel halved its street pigeon population through an integrated management program. The city had previously tried trapping, shooting, and oral contraceptives, all of which failed to effectively reduce pigeon numbers. Identifying the limitation of food sources as the only solution, the world’s leading scientist in the field, Professor Daniel Haag Wackernagel of the University of Basel, recommended that the city mount a public education campaign emphasizing that public feeding was the root of the problem and explaining the ultimate harm to the pigeons. Basel built lofts in city buildings and established areas where feeding was permitted near the lofts. Eggs were removed from the lofts, and during the four-year period of Haag-Wackernagel’s oversight, the pigeon population was reduced by 50 percent.
✔Augsburg, Germany: Augsburg currently has seven pigeon lofts in the city and is close to completing an eighth. The number of lofts is expected to grow to 15 by the end of 2006. In 2002 alone, 12,000 eggs were removed from the new lofts. Augsburg has seen a marked reduction in damage to buildings because the pigeon droppings are collected largely in the lofts.
✔Aachen, Germany: After acknowledging that trapping and killing pigeons was not making “any noticeable change” to the pigeon numbers, Aachen has now installed seven pigeon lofts that are maintained by volunteer staff and activists. A spokesperson for the city said that the city wants to continue with the integrated program because the lofts are producing the desired results.
✔Paris, France: The city had tried conventional control methods but did not obtain satisfactory results, so in 2003, Paris put up its first pigeon loft. Paris has chosen to addle (shake) the eggs to prevent them from hatching. The program has the support of the French Society for the Protection of City Birds. A spokesperson for the city said that the new plan works to “improve relations between Parisians and these birds” and reduces the damage caused by droppings.
✔Nottingham City Hospital, U.K.: A good example of the effectiveness of the PiCAS method in a commercial setting, the 60-acre hospital started killing some of its 1,200-strong resident pigeon population in 1999 but stopped immediately because of a public outcry. The hospital then brought in PiCAS to devise a humane control program and reduced its pigeon population by 50 percent within a year. The population in 200 was further reduced to 360 birds, and a recent survey has counted only 62 resident birds on site. This massive reduction was achieved exclusively by using nonlethal methods of control. The hospital won the 2003Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (UK) Best Practice Award for its humane and effective program in association with PiCAS.
The PiCAS Method in Action: Proven and Ongoing Successes
Some examples of places where this method has worked and is working to reduce and manage pigeon populations in Europe include the following:
As an example of construction and maintenance costs, the German city of Augsburg found it more expensive, according to the city’s finance officer, to employ lethal controls and constantly clean buildings than to introduce an integrated program. Currently, the city spends about $2,000 on construction materials for each dovecote or $15,000 if it contracts to have the dovecote constructed. The dovecotes are cleaned and maintained two to three times a week, which takes approximately three hours for each visit. Augsburg also uses community volunteers to keep costs low, and PETA can work with communities to locate and organize volunteers to aid in
running the PiCAS program.
If the more intricate and picturesque dovecotes such as those found in Augsburg are not desired, simpler features such as wall-mounted nesting boxes that can cost as little as $40 to $60 each or pigeon “lofts” that cost $400 to $600 can be constructed. All these options are effective and can simply be tailored to suit the available budget and the aesthetics of the designated site. As long as the facility has been constructed with the needs and behaviors of the pigeons in mind and has been erected on an appropriate site, pigeons will begin to take up residence and can be managed from the site. Perhaps the biggest benefit for cities in adopting a PiCAS
program is the savings that PiCAS can arrange for commercial property owners in the city. As noted above, one of the key features of the PiCAS method is working with property owners to ensure that their buildings are adequately and properly pigeon-proofed in order to make that area as unattractive to pigeons as possible. Pigeon-proofing can be achieved through a range of deterrents such as anti-roosting spikes, and PiCAS has extensive experience working with property owners to determine how best to address their individual concerns. PiCAS can offer the client sources for a wide range of control options and deterrents that will not only be completely effective in the long term but also can be obtained at a fraction of the cost that a commercial PCO would charge. For example, PiCAS has a noncommercial relationship with a U.K. producer of antiroosting devices that, having established a presence in Florida, can supply top-quality stainless-steel anti-roosting spikes to U.S. clients for less than even the wholesale price. U.S. clients who confirm that they will solely use nonlethal controls to address pigeon issues can enjoy a further 15 percent discount on these products, making the humane pigeon control option even more cost-effective.
It is also worthwhile to consider the possibility of offering a franchise to sell high-quality pigeon feed adjacent to the designated feeding area. This would ensure that the right food was offered to pigeons (rather than large quantities of processed food that not only would be damaging to their health, but might also attract rodents and seagulls), and it would create revenue for the city to offset the costs involved in cleaning and servicing the site.
PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
PIGEON CONTROL: PERMANENT AND HUMANE SOLUTIONS
Contact Information
Pigeon Control Advisory Service
29 Victoria Green
Witchford
Ely
Cambridgeshire CB6 2XB
United Kingdom
07981 945 662
enquiries@PiCAS.org.uk
www.PiCAS.org.uk
Stephanie Boyles, Wildlife Biologist
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-7382, ext. 8328
StephanieB@peta.org
Sources Cited
Batz, Jeannette. “Pigeons Dropping.” St. Louis Riverfront Times 13 Jan. 1999
.
Broughton, P.D. “Parisians Build Home for Pigeons in Suburbs.” London Daily
Telegraph 8 Mar. 2003.
Der Spiegel. “War Against the Messengers of Peace.” 6 Jun. 2003.
Haag-Wackernagel, Daniel. “Regulation of the Street Pigeon in Basel.” Wildlife
Society Bulletin 23.2 (2002): 256-60.
Kanigher, Steve. “Family Files Suit Alleging Exposure to Pigeon Poison.” Las Vegas
Sun 3 Dec. 2003
Nottingham City Hospital. “Pigeon Control Update.” Dec. 2000
.
"As for those who enjoy playing with the pigeons, I think it is my duty to suggest that we follow the Humane Society’s plan for the city, called “safe feeding zones.” In negotiations with Councilman Simcha Felder (44th District, Brooklyn), the HS is working with city lawyers to draw up a plan that will allow the feeding of pigeons in parks, on the grass, away from the heavily trafficked areas.
We can do the same thing at Columbia. We can feed the pigeons only on the grassy areas and abstain from inviting them to dine on the steps or any concrete places where people may sit. At least on the grass, their poop can actually function as fertilizer, and those of us who relax on the grass generally do so in our casual clothes, not our Sunday finest.
The Humane Society also advises that we feed only as much as the birds will consume in five to ten minutes, rather than feed with the clockwork regularity that conditions the birds to appear at the same place, same time, every day—and attract more and more of their compatriots over time."
Here are some examples of how other areas have dealt with pigeons in their cities. (Source: PETA)
✔Basel, Switzerland: From 1988 to 1992, Basel halved its street pigeon population through an integrated management program. The city had previously tried trapping, shooting, and oral contraceptives, all of which failed to effectively reduce pigeon numbers. Identifying the limitation of food sources as the only solution, the world’s leading scientist in the field, Professor Daniel Haag Wackernagel of the University of Basel, recommended that the city mount a public education campaign emphasizing that public feeding was the root of the problem and explaining the ultimate harm to the pigeons. Basel built lofts in city buildings and established areas where feeding was permitted near the lofts. Eggs were removed from the lofts, and during the four-year period of Haag-Wackernagel’s oversight, the pigeon population was reduced by 50 percent.
✔Augsburg, Germany: Augsburg currently has seven pigeon lofts in the city and is close to completing an eighth. The number of lofts is expected to grow to 15 by the end of 2006. In 2002 alone, 12,000 eggs were removed from the new lofts. Augsburg has seen a marked reduction in damage to buildings because the pigeon droppings are collected largely in the lofts.
✔Aachen, Germany: After acknowledging that trapping and killing pigeons was not making “any noticeable change” to the pigeon numbers, Aachen has now installed seven pigeon lofts that are maintained by volunteer staff and activists. A spokesperson for the city said that the city wants to continue with the integrated program because the lofts are producing the desired results.
✔Paris, France: The city had tried conventional control methods but did not obtain satisfactory results, so in 2003, Paris put up its first pigeon loft. Paris has chosen to addle (shake) the eggs to prevent them from hatching. The program has the support of the French Society for the Protection of City Birds. A spokesperson for the city said that the new plan works to “improve relations between Parisians and these birds” and reduces the damage caused by droppings.
✔Nottingham City Hospital, U.K.: A good example of the effectiveness of the PiCAS method in a commercial setting, the 60-acre hospital started killing some of its 1,200-strong resident pigeon population in 1999 but stopped immediately because of a public outcry. The hospital then brought in PiCAS to devise a humane control program and reduced its pigeon population by 50 percent within a year. The population in 200 was further reduced to 360 birds, and a recent survey has counted only 62 resident birds on site. This massive reduction was achieved exclusively by using nonlethal methods of control. The hospital won the 2003Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (UK) Best Practice Award for its humane and effective program in association with PiCAS.
The PiCAS Method in Action: Proven and Ongoing Successes
Some examples of places where this method has worked and is working to reduce and manage pigeon populations in Europe include the following:
As an example of construction and maintenance costs, the German city of Augsburg found it more expensive, according to the city’s finance officer, to employ lethal controls and constantly clean buildings than to introduce an integrated program. Currently, the city spends about $2,000 on construction materials for each dovecote or $15,000 if it contracts to have the dovecote constructed. The dovecotes are cleaned and maintained two to three times a week, which takes approximately three hours for each visit. Augsburg also uses community volunteers to keep costs low, and PETA can work with communities to locate and organize volunteers to aid in
running the PiCAS program.
If the more intricate and picturesque dovecotes such as those found in Augsburg are not desired, simpler features such as wall-mounted nesting boxes that can cost as little as $40 to $60 each or pigeon “lofts” that cost $400 to $600 can be constructed. All these options are effective and can simply be tailored to suit the available budget and the aesthetics of the designated site. As long as the facility has been constructed with the needs and behaviors of the pigeons in mind and has been erected on an appropriate site, pigeons will begin to take up residence and can be managed from the site. Perhaps the biggest benefit for cities in adopting a PiCAS
program is the savings that PiCAS can arrange for commercial property owners in the city. As noted above, one of the key features of the PiCAS method is working with property owners to ensure that their buildings are adequately and properly pigeon-proofed in order to make that area as unattractive to pigeons as possible. Pigeon-proofing can be achieved through a range of deterrents such as anti-roosting spikes, and PiCAS has extensive experience working with property owners to determine how best to address their individual concerns. PiCAS can offer the client sources for a wide range of control options and deterrents that will not only be completely effective in the long term but also can be obtained at a fraction of the cost that a commercial PCO would charge. For example, PiCAS has a noncommercial relationship with a U.K. producer of antiroosting devices that, having established a presence in Florida, can supply top-quality stainless-steel anti-roosting spikes to U.S. clients for less than even the wholesale price. U.S. clients who confirm that they will solely use nonlethal controls to address pigeon issues can enjoy a further 15 percent discount on these products, making the humane pigeon control option even more cost-effective.
It is also worthwhile to consider the possibility of offering a franchise to sell high-quality pigeon feed adjacent to the designated feeding area. This would ensure that the right food was offered to pigeons (rather than large quantities of processed food that not only would be damaging to their health, but might also attract rodents and seagulls), and it would create revenue for the city to offset the costs involved in cleaning and servicing the site.
PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
PIGEON CONTROL: PERMANENT AND HUMANE SOLUTIONS
Contact Information
Pigeon Control Advisory Service
29 Victoria Green
Witchford
Ely
Cambridgeshire CB6 2XB
United Kingdom
07981 945 662
enquiries@PiCAS.org.uk
www.PiCAS.org.uk
Stephanie Boyles, Wildlife Biologist
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-7382, ext. 8328
StephanieB@peta.org
Sources Cited
Batz, Jeannette. “Pigeons Dropping.” St. Louis Riverfront Times 13 Jan. 1999
Broughton, P.D. “Parisians Build Home for Pigeons in Suburbs.” London Daily
Telegraph 8 Mar. 2003.
Der Spiegel. “War Against the Messengers of Peace.” 6 Jun. 2003.
Haag-Wackernagel, Daniel. “Regulation of the Street Pigeon in Basel.” Wildlife
Society Bulletin 23.2 (2002): 256-60.
Kanigher, Steve. “Family Files Suit Alleging Exposure to Pigeon Poison.” Las Vegas
Sun 3 Dec. 2003
Nottingham City Hospital. “Pigeon Control Update.” Dec. 2000
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Extinction (the sad fate of the Passenger Pigeon)
AS I SEE IT HEIDI PRESCOTT
Extinction
Monday, September 01, 2008
The Patriot News
By the time they enter high school, most children have learned about the great bison herds of North America, and how men with guns brought these animals to the brink of extinction.
As students gain understanding of America's past, they are exposed to a second, even more troubling massacre. The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird on the continent, maybe in the world -- migrating in flocks that took days to pass overhead. Thanks to the unwavering zeal of shooters, the last known passenger pigeon, "Martha," died in Ohio on Sept. 1, 1914.
This condensed version of history, however, pulls up short after that, right where it counts.
Those responsible for the buffalo and passenger-pigeon massacres are portrayed as people who just didn't understand the power that humans could wield over nature. The tragic stories of these animals are chalked up as examples of ecological ignorance and unknowing people getting carried away with themselves. By this reckoning, we've learned the lessons of history. We're much more in tune with nature now.
But sadly there is more to it. These stories from our past are windows into something else, something darker in the human character. I'm speaking about bloodthirsty wantonness: The inexplicable lust to kill and kill and kill.
Unfortunately, the passage of time has not blunted this impulse in some of us.
Right here in 21st century Pennsylvania, gunfire rings out during the weekends from people engaged in orgies of killing that are even more gratuitous than the assaults on bison and passenger pigeon. That's right, not on the same epic scale but morally more repugnant. Back then, buffalo hides had economic value, at least. And passenger pigeons provided food, first to slaves and then to the underclass.
By contrast, today's pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania are without any purpose whatsoever. Nothing except competition killing for the sake of macabre trophy belt buckles.
These semi-tame pigeons are captured elsewhere, including the streets of New York. On any given Wednesday, they might be nibbling cracker crumbs out of grandma's hand in Central Park. Then they are trapped by a shadowy network of dealers and transported here. By Sunday, they could be stuffed into a box in front of shooter to be launched as living targets.
The "lucky" among these birds die swiftly. Their heads are snipped off by eager apprentices. The carcasses are discarded with the other garbage.
The less fortunate birds are wounded. They disappear into the trees and brush to suffer and die days later.
Don't be fooled by extremists who defend their blood-thirst as part of Pennsylvania's heritage. What grim heritage would that be? And if a zealot dares speak of "hunting" in the same breath as these shoots -- and sure enough, radicals like those of the National Rifle Association do -- please remind them that no traditional hunter kills for the sake of feeding garbage cans. No self-respecting hunter wounds animals and leaves them to die in the woods.
At The Humane Society of the United States we have a saying: Shooting pigeons and calling yourself a sportsman is like hiring an escort service and calling yourself a ladies' man.
THE GOOD NEWS is that we can end these savage displays of inhumanity. Ten years ago marked the end of the notorious Hegins pigeon shoot. Now a decade later, the Pennsylvania Legislature is considering catching up with the other 49 states in disallowing pigeon shoots. Let the shooters go play video games if they cannot find something constructive to do. The whole spectacle of pigeon shoots is just a ghoulish game anyway.
The trouble is, these few shooters and their extremist allies are a noisy bunch. To counter them, legislators need to hear that sensible voters are fed up. It is time for logic and decency to carry the day in the Capitol.
It requires not an iota of courage to shoot at a pigeon netted from the city park. It shouldn't require very much more for a legislator to decree that it's wrong to do so. A sensible law will send these contest kills into history's shameful dustbin along with stories of other human carnage against animals.
HEIDI PRESCOTT is senior vice president/campaigns for The Humane Society of the United States.
Extinction
Monday, September 01, 2008
The Patriot News
By the time they enter high school, most children have learned about the great bison herds of North America, and how men with guns brought these animals to the brink of extinction.
As students gain understanding of America's past, they are exposed to a second, even more troubling massacre. The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird on the continent, maybe in the world -- migrating in flocks that took days to pass overhead. Thanks to the unwavering zeal of shooters, the last known passenger pigeon, "Martha," died in Ohio on Sept. 1, 1914.
This condensed version of history, however, pulls up short after that, right where it counts.
Those responsible for the buffalo and passenger-pigeon massacres are portrayed as people who just didn't understand the power that humans could wield over nature. The tragic stories of these animals are chalked up as examples of ecological ignorance and unknowing people getting carried away with themselves. By this reckoning, we've learned the lessons of history. We're much more in tune with nature now.
But sadly there is more to it. These stories from our past are windows into something else, something darker in the human character. I'm speaking about bloodthirsty wantonness: The inexplicable lust to kill and kill and kill.
Unfortunately, the passage of time has not blunted this impulse in some of us.
Right here in 21st century Pennsylvania, gunfire rings out during the weekends from people engaged in orgies of killing that are even more gratuitous than the assaults on bison and passenger pigeon. That's right, not on the same epic scale but morally more repugnant. Back then, buffalo hides had economic value, at least. And passenger pigeons provided food, first to slaves and then to the underclass.
By contrast, today's pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania are without any purpose whatsoever. Nothing except competition killing for the sake of macabre trophy belt buckles.
These semi-tame pigeons are captured elsewhere, including the streets of New York. On any given Wednesday, they might be nibbling cracker crumbs out of grandma's hand in Central Park. Then they are trapped by a shadowy network of dealers and transported here. By Sunday, they could be stuffed into a box in front of shooter to be launched as living targets.
The "lucky" among these birds die swiftly. Their heads are snipped off by eager apprentices. The carcasses are discarded with the other garbage.
The less fortunate birds are wounded. They disappear into the trees and brush to suffer and die days later.
Don't be fooled by extremists who defend their blood-thirst as part of Pennsylvania's heritage. What grim heritage would that be? And if a zealot dares speak of "hunting" in the same breath as these shoots -- and sure enough, radicals like those of the National Rifle Association do -- please remind them that no traditional hunter kills for the sake of feeding garbage cans. No self-respecting hunter wounds animals and leaves them to die in the woods.
At The Humane Society of the United States we have a saying: Shooting pigeons and calling yourself a sportsman is like hiring an escort service and calling yourself a ladies' man.
THE GOOD NEWS is that we can end these savage displays of inhumanity. Ten years ago marked the end of the notorious Hegins pigeon shoot. Now a decade later, the Pennsylvania Legislature is considering catching up with the other 49 states in disallowing pigeon shoots. Let the shooters go play video games if they cannot find something constructive to do. The whole spectacle of pigeon shoots is just a ghoulish game anyway.
The trouble is, these few shooters and their extremist allies are a noisy bunch. To counter them, legislators need to hear that sensible voters are fed up. It is time for logic and decency to carry the day in the Capitol.
It requires not an iota of courage to shoot at a pigeon netted from the city park. It shouldn't require very much more for a legislator to decree that it's wrong to do so. A sensible law will send these contest kills into history's shameful dustbin along with stories of other human carnage against animals.
HEIDI PRESCOTT is senior vice president/campaigns for The Humane Society of the United States.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities to Three Year Old Humans
Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities To Three Year Old Humans
see article in Science Daily
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay. (Credit: Image courtesy of Keio University)ScienceDaily (June 14, 2008) — Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of the Graduate School of Human Relations of Keio University and Tsukuba University graduate student Kohji Toda trained pigeons to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.
Self-recognition is found in large primates such as chimpanzees, and recent findings show that dolphins and elephants also have such intelligence. Proving that pigeons also have this ability show that such high intelligence as self-recognition can be seen in various animals, and are not limited to primates and dolphins that have large brains.
Experimental method and results
The pigeon was trained to discriminate two types of video images in the following method. First, live video images of the present self (A) and recorded video images of the pigeon that moves differently from the present self (B) are shown. When the pigeon learns to discriminate these two images, the video image of (A) is shown with a temporal delay, so that the monitor shows the image of the pigeon a few seconds before. If the pigeon remembers its own movements, it can recognize it as self-image even with the delay.
The pigeon could discriminate (A) with a few seconds delay as something different from (B). This shows that the pigeon can differentiate the present self-image and the recorded self-image of the past, which means that the pigeon has self-cognitive abilities. Video image (A) matches with the movement of itself, whereas (B) does not. Being able to discriminate the two means that the pigeon understands the difference between movements of itself and movements of the taped image. In this experiment, movements of the pigeon itself are in question instead of the mark of Gallup’s mark test (see 2-(1) below for explanation). When there is a temporal delay in the image of the present self, the longer the delay, the more pigeon’s discrimination was disrupted, and this also shows that the pigeon discriminates the video images using its own movements. The important thing is whether it understands the difference between movements in the video image that match with itself and movements in the video image that don’t.
Method of testing self recognition on animals
(1) Gallup’s mirror test (self-recognition test)
The self-recognition test on animals using mirrors was developed by psychology Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr. at the State University of New York, Albany. His papers released in 1970 in the “Science” magazine explaining that chimpanzees have abilities for self-recognition attracted attention. This test is known as the first to test self-recognition on animals. He anesthetized chimpanzees and then marked their faces. When the chimpanzees were awakened, they were confronted with a mirror and they touched the corresponding marked region of their own faces. Most tests of self-recognition are a variation of the Gallup test, and are used to assess self-recognition in a wide variety of species. It is also called the mark test, or the rouge test.
(2) Assessment of self-recognition on pigeons
Self-recognition can be assessed with cross-modality matching. A typical example of cross-modality matching is waving your hand when you see yourself in a video image. With a mirror image or video image of oneself, when information of the propriocepter (how the arms and legs of oneself are moving) and visual information of oneself correlate, this can be considered self-recognition. The Gallup’s mark test is based on the precondition that the subject can touch itself. Unless the subject touches itself, it cannot be proved that it has abilities for self-recognition. However, the test conducted on pigeons is more advanced, as it is based on how the pigeons move, and by memorizing the shown images, pigeons proved that they have self-cognitive abilities.
Self-cognitive abilities tested in pigeons are higher than that of 3-year olds
Through various experiments, it is known that pigeons have great visual cognitive abilities. For example, a research at Harvard University proved that pigeons could discriminate people photographs from others. At Prof. Shigeru Watanabe’s laboratory, pigeons could discriminate paintings of a certain painter (such as Van Gogh) from another painter (such as Chagall).
Furthermore, pigeons could discriminate other pigeons individually, and also discriminate stimulated pigeons that were given stimulant drugs from none. In this experiment, pigeons could discriminate video images that reflect their movements even with a 5-7 second delay from video images that don’t reflect their movements. This ability is higher than an average 3-year-olds of humans. According to a research by Prof. Hiraki of the University of Tokyo, 3-year-olds have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
see article in Science Daily
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay. (Credit: Image courtesy of Keio University)ScienceDaily (June 14, 2008) — Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of the Graduate School of Human Relations of Keio University and Tsukuba University graduate student Kohji Toda trained pigeons to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.
Self-recognition is found in large primates such as chimpanzees, and recent findings show that dolphins and elephants also have such intelligence. Proving that pigeons also have this ability show that such high intelligence as self-recognition can be seen in various animals, and are not limited to primates and dolphins that have large brains.
Experimental method and results
The pigeon was trained to discriminate two types of video images in the following method. First, live video images of the present self (A) and recorded video images of the pigeon that moves differently from the present self (B) are shown. When the pigeon learns to discriminate these two images, the video image of (A) is shown with a temporal delay, so that the monitor shows the image of the pigeon a few seconds before. If the pigeon remembers its own movements, it can recognize it as self-image even with the delay.
The pigeon could discriminate (A) with a few seconds delay as something different from (B). This shows that the pigeon can differentiate the present self-image and the recorded self-image of the past, which means that the pigeon has self-cognitive abilities. Video image (A) matches with the movement of itself, whereas (B) does not. Being able to discriminate the two means that the pigeon understands the difference between movements of itself and movements of the taped image. In this experiment, movements of the pigeon itself are in question instead of the mark of Gallup’s mark test (see 2-(1) below for explanation). When there is a temporal delay in the image of the present self, the longer the delay, the more pigeon’s discrimination was disrupted, and this also shows that the pigeon discriminates the video images using its own movements. The important thing is whether it understands the difference between movements in the video image that match with itself and movements in the video image that don’t.
Method of testing self recognition on animals
(1) Gallup’s mirror test (self-recognition test)
The self-recognition test on animals using mirrors was developed by psychology Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr. at the State University of New York, Albany. His papers released in 1970 in the “Science” magazine explaining that chimpanzees have abilities for self-recognition attracted attention. This test is known as the first to test self-recognition on animals. He anesthetized chimpanzees and then marked their faces. When the chimpanzees were awakened, they were confronted with a mirror and they touched the corresponding marked region of their own faces. Most tests of self-recognition are a variation of the Gallup test, and are used to assess self-recognition in a wide variety of species. It is also called the mark test, or the rouge test.
(2) Assessment of self-recognition on pigeons
Self-recognition can be assessed with cross-modality matching. A typical example of cross-modality matching is waving your hand when you see yourself in a video image. With a mirror image or video image of oneself, when information of the propriocepter (how the arms and legs of oneself are moving) and visual information of oneself correlate, this can be considered self-recognition. The Gallup’s mark test is based on the precondition that the subject can touch itself. Unless the subject touches itself, it cannot be proved that it has abilities for self-recognition. However, the test conducted on pigeons is more advanced, as it is based on how the pigeons move, and by memorizing the shown images, pigeons proved that they have self-cognitive abilities.
Self-cognitive abilities tested in pigeons are higher than that of 3-year olds
Through various experiments, it is known that pigeons have great visual cognitive abilities. For example, a research at Harvard University proved that pigeons could discriminate people photographs from others. At Prof. Shigeru Watanabe’s laboratory, pigeons could discriminate paintings of a certain painter (such as Van Gogh) from another painter (such as Chagall).
Furthermore, pigeons could discriminate other pigeons individually, and also discriminate stimulated pigeons that were given stimulant drugs from none. In this experiment, pigeons could discriminate video images that reflect their movements even with a 5-7 second delay from video images that don’t reflect their movements. This ability is higher than an average 3-year-olds of humans. According to a research by Prof. Hiraki of the University of Tokyo, 3-year-olds have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
More Pigeon Fowl Play in New York
Fowl play: Sicko paints pigeon purple in Queens
By LISA L. COLANGELO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Friday, August 15th 2008, 4:49 PM
A pigeon that was painted purple was discovered in a Queens park.
We heard it through the grapevine - Queens has a purple pigeon.
Theroyal-hued bird wasn't born that way, though. Someone with a sick sense of humor - or a problem with pigeons - painted him purple.
"Itwas terrible," said Joe Mora, an animal lover who rescued the birdThursday from a Long Island City playground, where onlookers weregawking at the oddly-colored columbine.
"It looks like this was done intentionally...it could have been blinded," Mora said.
Hetried coaxing the lethargic bird to eat while asking anyone andeveryone for advice on how to clean paint from its feathers and beak.
Friday,city Animal Care and Control officials transferred the pigeon to BobbyHorvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Nassau County who hasextensive experience caring for injured birds.
The young pigeon, about three or four months old, might not survive the prank - if it was one, Horvath said.
"I have never seen anything like it," said Horvath, who is also a New York City firefighter.
"He's flightless at this point. His feathers are completely rigid," he said.
"His beak and mouth and eyes are clear of paint," Horvath said. "That's a positive thing."
Horvath said the bird has a better chance if the paint hasn't seeped through into his skin.
Morasaid he hopes someone in the neighborhood will come forward withinformation about the bird. He said he has heard stories about a man onnearby Roosevelt Island who dyed his dog's fur purple.
"If this was intentionally done to the bird, it certainly is animal cruelty," said ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.
By LISA L. COLANGELO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Friday, August 15th 2008, 4:49 PM
A pigeon that was painted purple was discovered in a Queens park.
We heard it through the grapevine - Queens has a purple pigeon.
Theroyal-hued bird wasn't born that way, though. Someone with a sick sense of humor - or a problem with pigeons - painted him purple.
"Itwas terrible," said Joe Mora, an animal lover who rescued the birdThursday from a Long Island City playground, where onlookers weregawking at the oddly-colored columbine.
"It looks like this was done intentionally...it could have been blinded," Mora said.
Hetried coaxing the lethargic bird to eat while asking anyone andeveryone for advice on how to clean paint from its feathers and beak.
Friday,city Animal Care and Control officials transferred the pigeon to BobbyHorvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Nassau County who hasextensive experience caring for injured birds.
The young pigeon, about three or four months old, might not survive the prank - if it was one, Horvath said.
"I have never seen anything like it," said Horvath, who is also a New York City firefighter.
"He's flightless at this point. His feathers are completely rigid," he said.
"His beak and mouth and eyes are clear of paint," Horvath said. "That's a positive thing."
Horvath said the bird has a better chance if the paint hasn't seeped through into his skin.
Morasaid he hopes someone in the neighborhood will come forward withinformation about the bird. He said he has heard stories about a man onnearby Roosevelt Island who dyed his dog's fur purple.
"If this was intentionally done to the bird, it certainly is animal cruelty," said ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.
Friday, August 8, 2008
More Pigeon-Nappings in New York City
New York Times article:
First, a confession. I am not a fan of pigeons. I have even eaten a pigeon, while on vacation in Egypt – more for the culinary adventure than revenge, but whatever the reason, I ate the bird and felt not a twinge of guilt.
Still, I was left rocked back on my heels this afternoon when I witnessed – for the first and hopefully only time – a pigeon-napping.
The curious incident happened in Columbus Park, a small oasis tucked behind the State Supreme Court complex on Centre Street, on the border of Chinatown.
The park itself is one of the more intriguing gathering spots in Manhattan. All day, elderly Chinese men play a Chinese version of chess as crowds gather to watch. There are other clusters of Chinese women playing card games. Little English is spoken. The lawyers and government functionaries who work nearby also swing through the small, unkempt grounds, but it is largely a Chinese crowd.
They sit not only on the benches and at the tables, but on rocks and the small slivers of earth surrounding the largely paved area.
In the western corner of the park, some men had hung cages with lovely songbirds in them, listening to their chirping as they sprawled out in the shade of the trees.
It was among this crowd that a burly white man in a blue shirt sat down.
He threw some crumbs on the ground in front of him and almost immediately, a flock of pigeons was at his feet.
Then, with a quick thrust of his right arm, he seized one of the birds. As the other pigeons scattered, he stuffed his captured prey into a large white box. We made brief eye contact. Then he bolted, thrusting his box with the rustling bird on his shoulder and disappearing into the crowded alley ways of Chinatown. I was mystified.
Was he capturing dinner? Taking the bird to his own flock to be raced or trained? Getting food for some voracious pet?
He was gone before I could ask, but a quick search on bird-napping revealed that it is topic that has come up in the past in the city.
The New Yorker reported last summer that residents in some neighborhoods were reporting a wave of pigeon robbers. A writer for the magazine was contacted by someone from “Bird Operations Busted, a self-styled pigeon-liberation outfit.” The man, who was not named in the story, said that generally, there were two kinds of birdnappers: “netters and hoopers,” referencing the tools used to capture pigeons.
There were enough incidents in Greenwich Village for The Villager, a community newspaper, to warn residents: “Someone is scooping up Village pigeons and no one knows why.”
But the man in Columbus Park was neither a netter nor a hooper, but rather a hand-scooper, and a deft one at that.
It calls to mind another man who captured pigeons in a public park to sustain himself during a particularly lean season: Ernest Hemingway.
In “A Moveable Feast,” Hemingway describes how he would wait for the gendarme at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris to wander off for a break or a glass of wine and then seize a pigeon, dispatching quickly with a swift twist of the neck before taking it home to prepare to eat.
In New York City, it seems, there is no need to fear the law when it comes to pigeon hunting.
My estimable colleague Al Baker, who covers the Police Department, made a quick inquiry about the incident and was told there was no indication a crime had been committed.
Asked if a man grabbing a pigeon, stuffing it in a box and running was a crime of some sort, a straight-faced police spokesman said, “No, not really.” “There’s no real crime,” the spokesman said, adding that more facts would be needed. “Maybe he’s trying to save the pigeon’s life. You cannot say it is a crime, because there is nothing to conclude it is a crime.”
First, a confession. I am not a fan of pigeons. I have even eaten a pigeon, while on vacation in Egypt – more for the culinary adventure than revenge, but whatever the reason, I ate the bird and felt not a twinge of guilt.
Still, I was left rocked back on my heels this afternoon when I witnessed – for the first and hopefully only time – a pigeon-napping.
The curious incident happened in Columbus Park, a small oasis tucked behind the State Supreme Court complex on Centre Street, on the border of Chinatown.
The park itself is one of the more intriguing gathering spots in Manhattan. All day, elderly Chinese men play a Chinese version of chess as crowds gather to watch. There are other clusters of Chinese women playing card games. Little English is spoken. The lawyers and government functionaries who work nearby also swing through the small, unkempt grounds, but it is largely a Chinese crowd.
They sit not only on the benches and at the tables, but on rocks and the small slivers of earth surrounding the largely paved area.
In the western corner of the park, some men had hung cages with lovely songbirds in them, listening to their chirping as they sprawled out in the shade of the trees.
It was among this crowd that a burly white man in a blue shirt sat down.
He threw some crumbs on the ground in front of him and almost immediately, a flock of pigeons was at his feet.
Then, with a quick thrust of his right arm, he seized one of the birds. As the other pigeons scattered, he stuffed his captured prey into a large white box. We made brief eye contact. Then he bolted, thrusting his box with the rustling bird on his shoulder and disappearing into the crowded alley ways of Chinatown. I was mystified.
Was he capturing dinner? Taking the bird to his own flock to be raced or trained? Getting food for some voracious pet?
He was gone before I could ask, but a quick search on bird-napping revealed that it is topic that has come up in the past in the city.
The New Yorker reported last summer that residents in some neighborhoods were reporting a wave of pigeon robbers. A writer for the magazine was contacted by someone from “Bird Operations Busted, a self-styled pigeon-liberation outfit.” The man, who was not named in the story, said that generally, there were two kinds of birdnappers: “netters and hoopers,” referencing the tools used to capture pigeons.
There were enough incidents in Greenwich Village for The Villager, a community newspaper, to warn residents: “Someone is scooping up Village pigeons and no one knows why.”
But the man in Columbus Park was neither a netter nor a hooper, but rather a hand-scooper, and a deft one at that.
It calls to mind another man who captured pigeons in a public park to sustain himself during a particularly lean season: Ernest Hemingway.
In “A Moveable Feast,” Hemingway describes how he would wait for the gendarme at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris to wander off for a break or a glass of wine and then seize a pigeon, dispatching quickly with a swift twist of the neck before taking it home to prepare to eat.
In New York City, it seems, there is no need to fear the law when it comes to pigeon hunting.
My estimable colleague Al Baker, who covers the Police Department, made a quick inquiry about the incident and was told there was no indication a crime had been committed.
Asked if a man grabbing a pigeon, stuffing it in a box and running was a crime of some sort, a straight-faced police spokesman said, “No, not really.” “There’s no real crime,” the spokesman said, adding that more facts would be needed. “Maybe he’s trying to save the pigeon’s life. You cannot say it is a crime, because there is nothing to conclude it is a crime.”
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Pigeon Vendor Linked to Bird Shootouts
Source: UPI.Com
Top News
NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Humane Society officials have accused a New York vendor of selling pigeons that end up at Pennsylvania gun clubs, where they are killed in shooting contests.
The Humane Society of the United States claims Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies sells pigeons to dealers who pass them off for a higher price to gun clubs in Pennsylvania, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Pigeon dealer Don Bailey one of those alleged to have bought birds from Broadway Pigeons, lawyers say
Bailey organizes what may be the biggest pigeon shootout in the country, which starts Thursday and goes until Monday at the Strausstown Rod and Gun Club in Pennsylvania, the Post said.
Officials have not said whether Bailey recently purchased birds from Broadway Pigeons.
The newspaper said thousands of pigeons can be killed during a five-day shooting tournament.
The attorney for Broadway Pigeons owner Joseph Scott said his client doesn't know where birds go after they leave his store.
Top News
NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Humane Society officials have accused a New York vendor of selling pigeons that end up at Pennsylvania gun clubs, where they are killed in shooting contests.
The Humane Society of the United States claims Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies sells pigeons to dealers who pass them off for a higher price to gun clubs in Pennsylvania, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Pigeon dealer Don Bailey one of those alleged to have bought birds from Broadway Pigeons, lawyers say
Bailey organizes what may be the biggest pigeon shootout in the country, which starts Thursday and goes until Monday at the Strausstown Rod and Gun Club in Pennsylvania, the Post said.
Officials have not said whether Bailey recently purchased birds from Broadway Pigeons.
The newspaper said thousands of pigeons can be killed during a five-day shooting tournament.
The attorney for Broadway Pigeons owner Joseph Scott said his client doesn't know where birds go after they leave his store.
New York City Birds Sold to Slaughter
THEY SHOOT PIGEONS, DON'T THEY?
NYC BIRDS SOLD TO SLAUGHTER
By JAMES FANELLI
New York Post
Posted: 4:06 am
July 27, 2008
A Brooklyn pigeon purveyor acted as a conduit for delivering Big Apple birds to their doom as live targets in shooting contests, according to an animal-rights group.
The Humane Society of the United States has fingered Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies in Bushwick as having sold squabs to brokers who resell the birds to Pennsylvania gun clubs.
The organizations include the Strausstown Rod and Gun Club, which is set to host one of the country's largest and bloodiest shoots in just four days.
"The Humane Society of the United States believes that some of the pigeons who end up as living targets in the circuit of live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania come from the brokers at Broadway Pigeons in New York City," Heidi Prescott, a senior vice president at the animal-rights group, told The Post.
According to a lawyer for Broadway Pigeons, a pigeon broker named Don Bailey has purchased birds from the store in the past. Bailey is in charge of the invitation-only tournament at Strausstown this week, according to the Pennsylvania Flyers Association, a group that has fought to keep pigeon shoots legal in the state.
Bailey declined to comment for this story. It is unclear where the pigeons for this week's tournament were procured.
While pigeon shoots are illegal in New York and animal-rights groups have decried the sport, the century-old contests are legal and popular in rural corners of Pennsylvania.
Known as "the Large Calcutta," the Strausstown competition begins this Thursday and runs through Aug. 4. It offers cash prizes to competitors and allows onlookers to bet on who can shotgun the most birds.
Each competitor fires on 10 pigeons, which are loaded into spring traps and released in turn each time the shooter yells, "Pull!"
The winner is the shooter who kills the most birds within a 35-foot-radius shooting circle.
Tournaments can attract up to 100 competitors a day and go for several rounds.
Over a five-day tournament, the carnage can be in the thousands of birds.
Prescott said the birds are illegally netted by poachers from New York City parks and sidewalks and sold to a retailer or go-between for $2 a bird. That retailer generally wholesales the pigeons for up to $4.50 each to a broker, who then resells the birds for $9 each to a gun range.
In New York, to legally trap pigeons, a netting permit and a small-game license are required.
The attorney for Joseph Scott, the owner of Broadway Pigeons, acknowledged that the store buys pigeons without asking whether they were illegally poached.
"He's got no idea of whether any of the pigeons he's purchased were netted," said Scott's lawyer, Joseph Mure.
Mure added that Scott had no knowledge of his store's pigeons' being used in shoots.
"When someone comes in and buys pigeons, my client doesn't know where they go," Mure said.
He acknowledged, however, that Bailey, the pigeon broker, had been a customer.
"Don Bailey at one point bought some birds," Mure, said. "He hasn't bought any birds in a while . . . I think he goes to the auctions in Pennsylvania."
jfanelli@nypost.com
NYC BIRDS SOLD TO SLAUGHTER
By JAMES FANELLI
New York Post
Posted: 4:06 am
July 27, 2008
A Brooklyn pigeon purveyor acted as a conduit for delivering Big Apple birds to their doom as live targets in shooting contests, according to an animal-rights group.
The Humane Society of the United States has fingered Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies in Bushwick as having sold squabs to brokers who resell the birds to Pennsylvania gun clubs.
The organizations include the Strausstown Rod and Gun Club, which is set to host one of the country's largest and bloodiest shoots in just four days.
"The Humane Society of the United States believes that some of the pigeons who end up as living targets in the circuit of live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania come from the brokers at Broadway Pigeons in New York City," Heidi Prescott, a senior vice president at the animal-rights group, told The Post.
According to a lawyer for Broadway Pigeons, a pigeon broker named Don Bailey has purchased birds from the store in the past. Bailey is in charge of the invitation-only tournament at Strausstown this week, according to the Pennsylvania Flyers Association, a group that has fought to keep pigeon shoots legal in the state.
Bailey declined to comment for this story. It is unclear where the pigeons for this week's tournament were procured.
While pigeon shoots are illegal in New York and animal-rights groups have decried the sport, the century-old contests are legal and popular in rural corners of Pennsylvania.
Known as "the Large Calcutta," the Strausstown competition begins this Thursday and runs through Aug. 4. It offers cash prizes to competitors and allows onlookers to bet on who can shotgun the most birds.
Each competitor fires on 10 pigeons, which are loaded into spring traps and released in turn each time the shooter yells, "Pull!"
The winner is the shooter who kills the most birds within a 35-foot-radius shooting circle.
Tournaments can attract up to 100 competitors a day and go for several rounds.
Over a five-day tournament, the carnage can be in the thousands of birds.
Prescott said the birds are illegally netted by poachers from New York City parks and sidewalks and sold to a retailer or go-between for $2 a bird. That retailer generally wholesales the pigeons for up to $4.50 each to a broker, who then resells the birds for $9 each to a gun range.
In New York, to legally trap pigeons, a netting permit and a small-game license are required.
The attorney for Joseph Scott, the owner of Broadway Pigeons, acknowledged that the store buys pigeons without asking whether they were illegally poached.
"He's got no idea of whether any of the pigeons he's purchased were netted," said Scott's lawyer, Joseph Mure.
Mure added that Scott had no knowledge of his store's pigeons' being used in shoots.
"When someone comes in and buys pigeons, my client doesn't know where they go," Mure said.
He acknowledged, however, that Bailey, the pigeon broker, had been a customer.
"Don Bailey at one point bought some birds," Mure, said. "He hasn't bought any birds in a while . . . I think he goes to the auctions in Pennsylvania."
jfanelli@nypost.com
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Pigeon King Collecting Birds from New York?
Note in bold in the following article -- Pigeon King has been collecting 10,000 pigeons a month taken from New York, Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio. Collecting how? Aside from the squab and investment businesses, are they also in the bird netting business?
Pigeon Investors Discuss Options in Dealing With Birds
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 12:37pm.
Linda Williams
Southwestern Pa. Correspondent
MARTINSBURG, Pa. — An optimistic group of pigeon owners gathered in Martinsburg at the Community Meeting Room last Friday.
Leading the 50-60 in attendance was pigeon investor Robert Detwiler.
Participants came from various parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The discussion centered on what to do with the pigeons in which they had invested thousands of dollars with Arlan Galbraith of Pigeon King International, a Canadian-based company. All of the investors, many of them Plain Sect, had done so in good faith of having a market.
However, Pigeon King, or PKI, which claimed to be in the squab market, has gone bankrupt leaving the pigeon farmers without a market. Squab is an exclusive dish served in elite restaurants and, according to one participant at the meeting, can sell for $165 per plate. Squab is made from pigeons which are 30 to 40 days old. Pigeon owners are now left with thousands of birds which are growing older by the day and must be fed.
Detwiler opened the meeting by explaining that, like others present, he had invested in the pigeons and had reaped the benefits for a time. He asked for ideas on how to deal with the situation. One person was appointed to write down each suggestion that would be sent to the various people in attendance and others who might inquire later.
Detwiler noted that one person let 2,000 pigeons out of their cages hoping they might fly away and he would no longer have to feed them. However, they returned to roost on his barn roof.
Detwiler also noted that he himself had sold about 10 of his birds to a dog trainer.
“We need to learn how to market what we have,” he said.
One person suggested using the birds for animal feed. Someone had heard of a man from the Scranton area who might have a lead on this.
A latecomer to the meeting said he and his wife had been on the Internet and found a processing plant in the Philadelphia area, but the Website did not have contact information.
While most of the pigeons purchased from Galbraith seemed to be high fliers or homing pigeons, Silver King pigeons seem to have more of a market.
A representative from the Imler Poultry Company said he is willing to work on finding a processing plant and a market for the pigeons although he could make no guarantees. He added that if he did find a market, the individual farmers would be responsible for getting the birds to market.
“You find a market and we will get them there,” was the response.
Another suggestion was for the farmers to eat their own birds. Detwiler noted he had found an old cookbook recently which had pigeon recipes and perhaps this was an option for at least some of the birds.
A former manager from Pigeon King said they had been collecting about 10,000 birds a month from New York, Pennsylvania, and western Ohio prior to the collapse of PKI.
One couple had discovered a Website indicating the pigeon manure makes good fertilizer and thought this might be a possibility.
Another said he had found a processing plant in New Castle that would use the older pigeons for snake feed.
“I’ve got a buyer coming tonight who will give me 50 cents per bird to be used for dog training,” came a voice from across the room. “Should I take it?”
“No, was a quick response, send your buyer to me.” This comment brought a round of laughter.
International markets were discussed briefly but it was indicated that there are a lot of rules and regulations with regards to shipping out of the country.
A former pickup man for Pigeon King said he had met many wonderful people with his former job. “I saw them starting to earn a profit,” he said. “When I would go back month after month, I began to see a lot of good changes.
People were fixing up their places. I know it was a good thing. I would like to be a pickup man again.”
The general consensus of the group was that Arlan Galbraith never meant to harm anyone and this was not a scam. It was only an unfortunate incident.
Meanwhile, regardless, the birds have to be fed. Several indicated they could no longer afford to purchase feed with 200 pounds of wheat costing $42.50.
Detwiler indicated he had some folks growing wheat on his land and has been able to keep his birds going with this. Others found cracked corn to be the least expensive route to go.
Anyone who felt the operation was a scam was invited to write a letter to the Waterloo Regional Police Service. If they get enough complaints they will file an investigation. To date, they have received only about 13 letters. The address is P.O. Box 3070, 200 Maple Grove Rd., Cambridge, Ontario N3H5MI.
Detwiler has also made an appointment with a bankruptcy lawyer and will get back to the group with information gleaned from this.
Pigeon Investors Discuss Options in Dealing With Birds
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 12:37pm.
Linda Williams
Southwestern Pa. Correspondent
MARTINSBURG, Pa. — An optimistic group of pigeon owners gathered in Martinsburg at the Community Meeting Room last Friday.
Leading the 50-60 in attendance was pigeon investor Robert Detwiler.
Participants came from various parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The discussion centered on what to do with the pigeons in which they had invested thousands of dollars with Arlan Galbraith of Pigeon King International, a Canadian-based company. All of the investors, many of them Plain Sect, had done so in good faith of having a market.
However, Pigeon King, or PKI, which claimed to be in the squab market, has gone bankrupt leaving the pigeon farmers without a market. Squab is an exclusive dish served in elite restaurants and, according to one participant at the meeting, can sell for $165 per plate. Squab is made from pigeons which are 30 to 40 days old. Pigeon owners are now left with thousands of birds which are growing older by the day and must be fed.
Detwiler opened the meeting by explaining that, like others present, he had invested in the pigeons and had reaped the benefits for a time. He asked for ideas on how to deal with the situation. One person was appointed to write down each suggestion that would be sent to the various people in attendance and others who might inquire later.
Detwiler noted that one person let 2,000 pigeons out of their cages hoping they might fly away and he would no longer have to feed them. However, they returned to roost on his barn roof.
Detwiler also noted that he himself had sold about 10 of his birds to a dog trainer.
“We need to learn how to market what we have,” he said.
One person suggested using the birds for animal feed. Someone had heard of a man from the Scranton area who might have a lead on this.
A latecomer to the meeting said he and his wife had been on the Internet and found a processing plant in the Philadelphia area, but the Website did not have contact information.
While most of the pigeons purchased from Galbraith seemed to be high fliers or homing pigeons, Silver King pigeons seem to have more of a market.
A representative from the Imler Poultry Company said he is willing to work on finding a processing plant and a market for the pigeons although he could make no guarantees. He added that if he did find a market, the individual farmers would be responsible for getting the birds to market.
“You find a market and we will get them there,” was the response.
Another suggestion was for the farmers to eat their own birds. Detwiler noted he had found an old cookbook recently which had pigeon recipes and perhaps this was an option for at least some of the birds.
A former manager from Pigeon King said they had been collecting about 10,000 birds a month from New York, Pennsylvania, and western Ohio prior to the collapse of PKI.
One couple had discovered a Website indicating the pigeon manure makes good fertilizer and thought this might be a possibility.
Another said he had found a processing plant in New Castle that would use the older pigeons for snake feed.
“I’ve got a buyer coming tonight who will give me 50 cents per bird to be used for dog training,” came a voice from across the room. “Should I take it?”
“No, was a quick response, send your buyer to me.” This comment brought a round of laughter.
International markets were discussed briefly but it was indicated that there are a lot of rules and regulations with regards to shipping out of the country.
A former pickup man for Pigeon King said he had met many wonderful people with his former job. “I saw them starting to earn a profit,” he said. “When I would go back month after month, I began to see a lot of good changes.
People were fixing up their places. I know it was a good thing. I would like to be a pickup man again.”
The general consensus of the group was that Arlan Galbraith never meant to harm anyone and this was not a scam. It was only an unfortunate incident.
Meanwhile, regardless, the birds have to be fed. Several indicated they could no longer afford to purchase feed with 200 pounds of wheat costing $42.50.
Detwiler indicated he had some folks growing wheat on his land and has been able to keep his birds going with this. Others found cracked corn to be the least expensive route to go.
Anyone who felt the operation was a scam was invited to write a letter to the Waterloo Regional Police Service. If they get enough complaints they will file an investigation. To date, they have received only about 13 letters. The address is P.O. Box 3070, 200 Maple Grove Rd., Cambridge, Ontario N3H5MI.
Detwiler has also made an appointment with a bankruptcy lawyer and will get back to the group with information gleaned from this.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Poor Pigeons All Around!
Poor pigeons....shot when they allegedly got in the way; and in a separate incident, used by man for illegal prison activities... two incidents that occured within a few days of one another. One cannot help but feel sympathy for the poor species which man cannot leave alone to exist in peace.
News from BirdChannel.com
Pigeons Make Headlines at Wimbledon, Brazilian Prison
Birds shot, used for smuggling in separate incidents
By Katie Ingmire
Posted: July 11, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
Pigeons might be ubiquitous in urban areas, but they remain largely absent from mentions in news stories. Recent events at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and a Brazilian prison, however, prove pigeons can make the headlines.
Wimbledon pigeon shooting draws ire from animal activists
Animal rights activists were up in arms last month after marksmen shot pigeons that were distracting players on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
According to an article published June 24, 2008 by Reuters news service, the All England Club hired two hawks to frighten away dive-bombing pigeons during the tennis tournament. Wimbledon called in marksmen after the hawks couldn’t deter the pigeons from the open-air media restaurant and players’ lawn.
Nick Kester, press secretary for the Hawk Board, a body representing all falconers in the United Kingdom, said the hawks might not have been able to scare the pigeons away because pigeons get used to bird-scaring devices, such as falcons and regular explosions.
“As the hawk cannot be flown whilst the tennis match is in progress, then there is no deterrent,” Kester said. “Thus, the more persistent pigeons will return.”
The reaction from Wimbledon came after bird droppings on restaurant tables were thought to pose a health risk, the article said.
Anna Dove, who writes the blog “People for Pigeons,” said she has received many comments pertaining to the Wimbledon incident. She said not one comment supported shooting the pigeons.
“When is any sport more important than a bird?” Dove questioned. “The birds aren’t dangerous … (Wimbledon) should have allowed the birds to stay there.”
Prison Pigeons Found Smuggling Drugs, Phones
A recent incident at a Brazilian prison gives new meaning to the term “pack rat.”
Pigeons, which often receive the unfortunate label of “rats with wings,” were found smuggling drugs and cell phones into the prison in Marilia, Sao Paulo state, according to a June 25 article published by Reuters news service.
Officials uncovered the reason behind the prison’s steep increase in the two contraband items when guards noticed some pigeons struggling to stay in the air. Inmates had been training the pigeons to bring in drugs and phones using pouches on the birds’ backs, the article said.
Prison officials said the pigeons lived on the jail’s roof, also the location where the pigeons delivered the goods. According to the article, the prisoners would take the items delivered onto the roof, then use friends and family to smuggle the pigeons out again.
News from BirdChannel.com
Pigeons Make Headlines at Wimbledon, Brazilian Prison
Birds shot, used for smuggling in separate incidents
By Katie Ingmire
Posted: July 11, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
Pigeons might be ubiquitous in urban areas, but they remain largely absent from mentions in news stories. Recent events at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and a Brazilian prison, however, prove pigeons can make the headlines.
Wimbledon pigeon shooting draws ire from animal activists
Animal rights activists were up in arms last month after marksmen shot pigeons that were distracting players on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
According to an article published June 24, 2008 by Reuters news service, the All England Club hired two hawks to frighten away dive-bombing pigeons during the tennis tournament. Wimbledon called in marksmen after the hawks couldn’t deter the pigeons from the open-air media restaurant and players’ lawn.
Nick Kester, press secretary for the Hawk Board, a body representing all falconers in the United Kingdom, said the hawks might not have been able to scare the pigeons away because pigeons get used to bird-scaring devices, such as falcons and regular explosions.
“As the hawk cannot be flown whilst the tennis match is in progress, then there is no deterrent,” Kester said. “Thus, the more persistent pigeons will return.”
The reaction from Wimbledon came after bird droppings on restaurant tables were thought to pose a health risk, the article said.
Anna Dove, who writes the blog “People for Pigeons,” said she has received many comments pertaining to the Wimbledon incident. She said not one comment supported shooting the pigeons.
“When is any sport more important than a bird?” Dove questioned. “The birds aren’t dangerous … (Wimbledon) should have allowed the birds to stay there.”
Prison Pigeons Found Smuggling Drugs, Phones
A recent incident at a Brazilian prison gives new meaning to the term “pack rat.”
Pigeons, which often receive the unfortunate label of “rats with wings,” were found smuggling drugs and cell phones into the prison in Marilia, Sao Paulo state, according to a June 25 article published by Reuters news service.
Officials uncovered the reason behind the prison’s steep increase in the two contraband items when guards noticed some pigeons struggling to stay in the air. Inmates had been training the pigeons to bring in drugs and phones using pouches on the birds’ backs, the article said.
Prison officials said the pigeons lived on the jail’s roof, also the location where the pigeons delivered the goods. According to the article, the prisoners would take the items delivered onto the roof, then use friends and family to smuggle the pigeons out again.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Pigeon Netter Netted
by Erik Baard
(see original article here)
One of the stupider “sports” people have come up with is pigeon shooting, where the birds are released from boxes into the line of yahoos’ ready fire. In a 1902 debate over a bill banning the sport from New York, a state senator compared that lack of humanity and sportsman-like behavior to shutting a doe up in a barn and then blasting her as she ran out the open door.
As nearby as Pennsylvania the practice persists, and New York City birds are being stolen to supply the madness. Fortunately, In Defense of Animals is part of the vanguard to stop it. This week the group conferred its first $2,500 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person netting pigeons, also known as rock doves, in NYC. The recipient was Desi Stewart, a street sweeper with the Doe Fund. He spotted Brooklyn resident Isaac Gonzalez spreading seed and netting many pigeons on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officer arrested Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court on June 26, 2008.
It’s a shame Gonzalez didn’t go to prison, if only because we’ll miss the small ironic pleasure of letting him know of his idiocy in trapping for deathly amusement birds whose intelligence might have made them useful allies in alleviating the sufferings of confinement. Kindred criminal spirits in Brazil, at least, were smart enough to attempt to employ the birds as jailhouse smugglers, complete with little pigeon backpacks!
Pigeons have a growing fan base outside “the clink” (is my mother the only person who still uses that expression?) too. National Pigeon Day was Friday the 13th in June, appropriately enough for such a besotted bird. In Defense of Animals, the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee, the New York Bird Club, and luminaries ate pigeon-shaped cookies…and perhaps scandalously snuck a few crumbs to their avian honorees. The contributions of this species, including astonishing heroics in war, rescue, and acts of touching personal loyalty were recounted.
City Councilman Tony Avella, who’s taken the lead on a number of animal rights issues, shared a moving observation. “They are often a city child’s first contact with nature and an elderly person’s only friends,” he said.
One might wonder why there isn’t a greater effort to control pigeon populations, for fear that they might crowd out other, indigenous species. To understand how little worry ecologists have in this regard, here’s a simple exercise: plant your own lush garden or grove of indigenous plants and trees and wait for the pigeons to show up. Or simply visualize the trees on your block being filled with pigeons. It simply won’t happen. The “rock dove” species feeds on the ground and prefers barren areas much like its ancestral cliff sides in Asia Minor. In other words, buildings and asphalt. Not that city life is kind to pigeons. In the wild they live about 14 years, but typically reach only two in urban areas. They do, however, breed a lot more.
If you’d like to get involved in the responsible care and control of pigeons in the city, try volunteering for Pigeon Watch. And remember, if you witness a pigeon netting in the five boroughs of New York City, call New York State DEC Officer Joseph Pane at 718-482-4941. If you need help in rescuing a pigeon of any age or condition, please visit New York City Pigeon Rescue Central. For the simple enjoyment of learning more about this species, one great place to start is Andrew Blechman’s book, Pigeons, which he calls “the world’s most revered and reviled bird.”
All this brings to mind that we’re at a sad centennial: it was in 1908 that zookeepers posted a $1000 reward (more than $23,000 in today’s dollars) for fertile, wild passenger pigeons. That awakening to the crisis was too late and the reward was never collected. Over-hunting and habitat destruction wiped out that species, which once filled North American skies in flocks of billions. Martha, the last of her kind, died in captivity in 1914. I’ll write more about this missing species of pigeons in coming weeks.
(see original article here)
One of the stupider “sports” people have come up with is pigeon shooting, where the birds are released from boxes into the line of yahoos’ ready fire. In a 1902 debate over a bill banning the sport from New York, a state senator compared that lack of humanity and sportsman-like behavior to shutting a doe up in a barn and then blasting her as she ran out the open door.
As nearby as Pennsylvania the practice persists, and New York City birds are being stolen to supply the madness. Fortunately, In Defense of Animals is part of the vanguard to stop it. This week the group conferred its first $2,500 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person netting pigeons, also known as rock doves, in NYC. The recipient was Desi Stewart, a street sweeper with the Doe Fund. He spotted Brooklyn resident Isaac Gonzalez spreading seed and netting many pigeons on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officer arrested Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court on June 26, 2008.
It’s a shame Gonzalez didn’t go to prison, if only because we’ll miss the small ironic pleasure of letting him know of his idiocy in trapping for deathly amusement birds whose intelligence might have made them useful allies in alleviating the sufferings of confinement. Kindred criminal spirits in Brazil, at least, were smart enough to attempt to employ the birds as jailhouse smugglers, complete with little pigeon backpacks!
Pigeons have a growing fan base outside “the clink” (is my mother the only person who still uses that expression?) too. National Pigeon Day was Friday the 13th in June, appropriately enough for such a besotted bird. In Defense of Animals, the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee, the New York Bird Club, and luminaries ate pigeon-shaped cookies…and perhaps scandalously snuck a few crumbs to their avian honorees. The contributions of this species, including astonishing heroics in war, rescue, and acts of touching personal loyalty were recounted.
City Councilman Tony Avella, who’s taken the lead on a number of animal rights issues, shared a moving observation. “They are often a city child’s first contact with nature and an elderly person’s only friends,” he said.
One might wonder why there isn’t a greater effort to control pigeon populations, for fear that they might crowd out other, indigenous species. To understand how little worry ecologists have in this regard, here’s a simple exercise: plant your own lush garden or grove of indigenous plants and trees and wait for the pigeons to show up. Or simply visualize the trees on your block being filled with pigeons. It simply won’t happen. The “rock dove” species feeds on the ground and prefers barren areas much like its ancestral cliff sides in Asia Minor. In other words, buildings and asphalt. Not that city life is kind to pigeons. In the wild they live about 14 years, but typically reach only two in urban areas. They do, however, breed a lot more.
If you’d like to get involved in the responsible care and control of pigeons in the city, try volunteering for Pigeon Watch. And remember, if you witness a pigeon netting in the five boroughs of New York City, call New York State DEC Officer Joseph Pane at 718-482-4941. If you need help in rescuing a pigeon of any age or condition, please visit New York City Pigeon Rescue Central. For the simple enjoyment of learning more about this species, one great place to start is Andrew Blechman’s book, Pigeons, which he calls “the world’s most revered and reviled bird.”
All this brings to mind that we’re at a sad centennial: it was in 1908 that zookeepers posted a $1000 reward (more than $23,000 in today’s dollars) for fertile, wild passenger pigeons. That awakening to the crisis was too late and the reward was never collected. Over-hunting and habitat destruction wiped out that species, which once filled North American skies in flocks of billions. Martha, the last of her kind, died in captivity in 1914. I’ll write more about this missing species of pigeons in coming weeks.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Pigeon King Bankruptcy Leaves Birds in Limbo
Latest developments
Pigeon King Bankruptcy Leaves Birds in Limbo
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 10:51am.
Lancaster Farming
Chris Torres
Staff Writer
Information is still sketchy on what will happen to thousands of pigeons in limbo as a result of the bankruptcy of Pigeon King International last week.
The company, which sold expensive pigeon breeding contracts to prospective buyers, filed for bankruptcy in Canada, with its controversial owner, Arlan Galbraith, declaring the company "dead."
Thousands of producers throughout Canada and the U.S., including many in Pennsylvania, are now left with hundreds if not thousands of pigeons they will have to either sell or destroy as a result of the filing. Many others have likely lost thousands of dollars as a result of their investments in the company.
Live bird markets in Pennsylvania have been inundated with calls from producers who want to get rid of their pigeons.
"We’ve been overwhelmed," said Lisa Laucks of Gingrich Animal Supply, Fredericksburg, Pa. She said the company has gotten requests to sell more than 20,000 pigeons to the live bird market. "There are way too many out there," she said.
The company sold multi-year contracts to prospective investors, some in the range of $250,000 or more, for the right to raise pigeons on the farm with the promise they would be paid for their offspring. The company stated it was stocking pigeons for the lucrative squab market and even trademarked a company, Hinterland Squabs, with the hopes of entering into the market.
But critics, including one former salesman for Pigeon King, claimed the company was operating a "Ponzi" scheme, recruiting new investors to pay off old ones, because they didn’t have a clear market for the birds.
Laucks said many of the pigeons she has seen lack the quality and size to be sold into the squab market.
"They are poor quality pigeons," she said. "The information (Galbraith) gave to producers about selling them as squab was not right."
A handful of states, including Iowa, Maryland and Washington, banned the company from doing business in their states.
The Waterloo Regional Police Department in Canada has opened up an inquiry into the company’s dealings.
But even in the face of bankruptcy, Galbraith defended his business practices in a letter sent out to producers last week. He claims the company was in good financial shape, paying out more than $12 million to purchase pigeons from its contract producers in 2007. He also claimed the pigeon business gave him strength in his fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer.
He blamed many factors for the company’s downfall, including the weakening economy, high feed costs and increased building costs.
But he placed most of the blame in the hands of his critics, describing them as "fear mongers" and claiming they prevented the company from recruiting new investors.
"Had the fear mongers not targeted us, we would still be a thriving company establishing the first of several squab processing plants. Instead we have been reduced to ashes by fear. Fear is the strongest weapon in the world and it has been used since the beginning of time to manipulate and control people," Galbraith wrote in his letter.
He added that producers are free to do whatever they want with their pigeons and that a bankruptcy trustee has taken over the company’s dealings.
"This means my hands are now tied and that the trustee is responsible for everything," Galbraith wrote.
Apparently, not all of the company’s producers received his letter.
Robert Leister of Wellsboro, Pa., said Monday he was shocked to learn the company filed for bankruptcy. He had just ordered supplies from the company and was expecting a shipment any day. He even received the company’s latest newsletter, which contained a description of a slaughterhouse they were planning on building.
Leister spent $10,000 on 100 pairs of pigeons and thousands more on renovating a building to house the birds. He said the company honored the contract, but claims he has not made enough money to cover his initial investment. Now, he is left with hundreds of pigeons he doesn’t what to do with.
"I guess there will be a lot of pigeons flying around," Leister said.
Noah Peachey, a Plain Sect farmer from Belleville, Pa., said he knows many other producers in his community that made investments in the company. Five of his nephews bought birds from Pigeon King, all of whom, he said, have no idea what they will do now.
"There are people that are very devastated," Peachey said. "What can you do? We tried to warn them."
According to Dr. David Griswold, acting executive director of the state’s Animal Health and Diagnostic Commission, producers can legally incinerate, render or bury their animals, so long as they do it in a "humane fashion."
Griswold said pigeons carry few diseases and are extremely resistance to avian flu.
Chris Ryder, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said there are at least six markets in the state exclusively for live birds, all of which are located in the Philadelphia area, that could take the pigeons. But he added the markets can only handle between 200 and 600 birds at a time.
Ryder said there are also other markets in the state that could possibly take some of the pigeons.
Source: Lancaster Farming
Pigeon King Bankruptcy Leaves Birds in Limbo
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 10:51am.
Lancaster Farming
Chris Torres
Staff Writer
Information is still sketchy on what will happen to thousands of pigeons in limbo as a result of the bankruptcy of Pigeon King International last week.
The company, which sold expensive pigeon breeding contracts to prospective buyers, filed for bankruptcy in Canada, with its controversial owner, Arlan Galbraith, declaring the company "dead."
Thousands of producers throughout Canada and the U.S., including many in Pennsylvania, are now left with hundreds if not thousands of pigeons they will have to either sell or destroy as a result of the filing. Many others have likely lost thousands of dollars as a result of their investments in the company.
Live bird markets in Pennsylvania have been inundated with calls from producers who want to get rid of their pigeons.
"We’ve been overwhelmed," said Lisa Laucks of Gingrich Animal Supply, Fredericksburg, Pa. She said the company has gotten requests to sell more than 20,000 pigeons to the live bird market. "There are way too many out there," she said.
The company sold multi-year contracts to prospective investors, some in the range of $250,000 or more, for the right to raise pigeons on the farm with the promise they would be paid for their offspring. The company stated it was stocking pigeons for the lucrative squab market and even trademarked a company, Hinterland Squabs, with the hopes of entering into the market.
But critics, including one former salesman for Pigeon King, claimed the company was operating a "Ponzi" scheme, recruiting new investors to pay off old ones, because they didn’t have a clear market for the birds.
Laucks said many of the pigeons she has seen lack the quality and size to be sold into the squab market.
"They are poor quality pigeons," she said. "The information (Galbraith) gave to producers about selling them as squab was not right."
A handful of states, including Iowa, Maryland and Washington, banned the company from doing business in their states.
The Waterloo Regional Police Department in Canada has opened up an inquiry into the company’s dealings.
But even in the face of bankruptcy, Galbraith defended his business practices in a letter sent out to producers last week. He claims the company was in good financial shape, paying out more than $12 million to purchase pigeons from its contract producers in 2007. He also claimed the pigeon business gave him strength in his fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer.
He blamed many factors for the company’s downfall, including the weakening economy, high feed costs and increased building costs.
But he placed most of the blame in the hands of his critics, describing them as "fear mongers" and claiming they prevented the company from recruiting new investors.
"Had the fear mongers not targeted us, we would still be a thriving company establishing the first of several squab processing plants. Instead we have been reduced to ashes by fear. Fear is the strongest weapon in the world and it has been used since the beginning of time to manipulate and control people," Galbraith wrote in his letter.
He added that producers are free to do whatever they want with their pigeons and that a bankruptcy trustee has taken over the company’s dealings.
"This means my hands are now tied and that the trustee is responsible for everything," Galbraith wrote.
Apparently, not all of the company’s producers received his letter.
Robert Leister of Wellsboro, Pa., said Monday he was shocked to learn the company filed for bankruptcy. He had just ordered supplies from the company and was expecting a shipment any day. He even received the company’s latest newsletter, which contained a description of a slaughterhouse they were planning on building.
Leister spent $10,000 on 100 pairs of pigeons and thousands more on renovating a building to house the birds. He said the company honored the contract, but claims he has not made enough money to cover his initial investment. Now, he is left with hundreds of pigeons he doesn’t what to do with.
"I guess there will be a lot of pigeons flying around," Leister said.
Noah Peachey, a Plain Sect farmer from Belleville, Pa., said he knows many other producers in his community that made investments in the company. Five of his nephews bought birds from Pigeon King, all of whom, he said, have no idea what they will do now.
"There are people that are very devastated," Peachey said. "What can you do? We tried to warn them."
According to Dr. David Griswold, acting executive director of the state’s Animal Health and Diagnostic Commission, producers can legally incinerate, render or bury their animals, so long as they do it in a "humane fashion."
Griswold said pigeons carry few diseases and are extremely resistance to avian flu.
Chris Ryder, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said there are at least six markets in the state exclusively for live birds, all of which are located in the Philadelphia area, that could take the pigeons. But he added the markets can only handle between 200 and 600 birds at a time.
Ryder said there are also other markets in the state that could possibly take some of the pigeons.
Source: Lancaster Farming
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wimbledon Uses Marksmen to Shoot Pigeons
Wimbledon under fire for pigeon cull
Jun 24, 1:03 pm EDT
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) -
Wimbledon came under fire from animal activists on Tuesday for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.
The tournament employs two hawks to scare away pigeons who had become a pest swooping down on Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.
But the hawks failed to keep the pigeons away from the players’ lawn and the open-air media restaurant so marksmen were called in.
“The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job,” Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said.
“But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach,” he explained.
The marksmen were summoned by Wimbledon as pigeon droppings on the restaurant tables were thought to be a health hazard.
The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as “cruel and illegal behaviour” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.
“Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law,” PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.
(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Clare Lovell)
Jun 24, 1:03 pm EDT
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) -
Wimbledon came under fire from animal activists on Tuesday for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.
The tournament employs two hawks to scare away pigeons who had become a pest swooping down on Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.
But the hawks failed to keep the pigeons away from the players’ lawn and the open-air media restaurant so marksmen were called in.
“The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job,” Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said.
“But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach,” he explained.
The marksmen were summoned by Wimbledon as pigeon droppings on the restaurant tables were thought to be a health hazard.
The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as “cruel and illegal behaviour” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.
“Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law,” PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.
(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Clare Lovell)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities
Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities To Three Year Old Humans
Source: Science Daily
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of the Graduate School of Human Relations of Keio University and Tsukuba University graduate student Kohji Toda trained pigeons to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.
Self-recognition is found in large primates such as chimpanzees, and recent findings show that dolphins and elephants also have such intelligence. Proving that pigeons also have this ability show that such high intelligence as self-recognition can be seen in various animals, and are not limited to primates and dolphins that have large brains.
Experimental method and results
The pigeon was trained to discriminate two types of video images in the following method. First, live video images of the present self (A) and recorded video images of the pigeon that moves differently from the present self (B) are shown. When the pigeon learns to discriminate these two images, the video image of (A) is shown with a temporal delay, so that the monitor shows the image of the pigeon a few seconds before. If the pigeon remembers its own movements, it can recognize it as self-image even with the delay.
The pigeon could discriminate (A) with a few seconds delay as something different from (B). This shows that the pigeon can differentiate the present self-image and the recorded self-image of the past, which means that the pigeon has self-cognitive abilities. Video image (A) matches with the movement of itself, whereas (B) does not. Being able to discriminate the two means that the pigeon understands the difference between movements of itself and movements of the taped image. In this experiment, movements of the pigeon itself are in question instead of the mark of Gallup’s mark test (see 2-(1) below for explanation). When there is a temporal delay in the image of the present self, the longer the delay, the more pigeon’s discrimination was disrupted, and this also shows that the pigeon discriminates the video images using its own movements. The important thing is whether it understands the difference between movements in the video image that match with itself and movements in the video image that don’t.
Method of testing self recognition on animals
(1) Gallup’s mirror test (self-recognition test)
The self-recognition test on animals using mirrors was developed by psychology Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr. at the State University of New York, Albany. His papers released in 1970 in the “Science” magazine explaining that chimpanzees have abilities for self-recognition attracted attention. This test is known as the first to test self-recognition on animals. He anesthetized chimpanzees and then marked their faces. When the chimpanzees were awakened, they were confronted with a mirror and they touched the corresponding marked region of their own faces. Most tests of self-recognition are a variation of the Gallup test, and are used to assess self-recognition in a wide variety of species. It is also called the mark test, or the rouge test.
(2) Assessment of self-recognition on pigeons
Self-recognition can be assessed with cross-modality matching. A typical example of cross-modality matching is waving your hand when you see yourself in a video image. With a mirror image or video image of oneself, when information of the propriocepter (how the arms and legs of oneself are moving) and visual information of oneself correlate, this can be considered self-recognition. The Gallup’s mark test is based on the precondition that the subject can touch itself. Unless the subject touches itself, it cannot be proved that it has abilities for self-recognition. However, the test conducted on pigeons is more advanced, as it is based on how the pigeons move, and by memorizing the shown images, pigeons proved that they have self-cognitive abilities.
Self-cognitive abilities tested in pigeons are higher than that of 3-year olds
Through various experiments, it is known that pigeons have great visual cognitive abilities. For example, a research at Harvard University proved that pigeons could discriminate people photographs from others. At Prof. Shigeru Watanabe’s laboratory, pigeons could discriminate paintings of a certain painter (such as Van Gogh) from another painter (such as Chagall).
Furthermore, pigeons could discriminate other pigeons individually, and also discriminate stimulated pigeons that were given stimulant drugs from none. In this experiment, pigeons could discriminate video images that reflect their movements even with a 5-7 second delay from video images that don’t reflect their movements. This ability is higher than an average 3-year-olds of humans. According to a research by Prof. Hiraki of the University of Tokyo, 3-year-olds have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Journal reference:
Toda et al. Discrimination of moving video images of self by pigeons (Columba livia). Animal Cognition, 2008 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-008-0161-4
Adapted from materials provided by Keio University.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA
MLA
Keio University (2008, June 14). Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities To Three Year Old Humans. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/06/080613145535.htm
Source: Science Daily
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of the Graduate School of Human Relations of Keio University and Tsukuba University graduate student Kohji Toda trained pigeons to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.
Self-recognition is found in large primates such as chimpanzees, and recent findings show that dolphins and elephants also have such intelligence. Proving that pigeons also have this ability show that such high intelligence as self-recognition can be seen in various animals, and are not limited to primates and dolphins that have large brains.
Experimental method and results
The pigeon was trained to discriminate two types of video images in the following method. First, live video images of the present self (A) and recorded video images of the pigeon that moves differently from the present self (B) are shown. When the pigeon learns to discriminate these two images, the video image of (A) is shown with a temporal delay, so that the monitor shows the image of the pigeon a few seconds before. If the pigeon remembers its own movements, it can recognize it as self-image even with the delay.
The pigeon could discriminate (A) with a few seconds delay as something different from (B). This shows that the pigeon can differentiate the present self-image and the recorded self-image of the past, which means that the pigeon has self-cognitive abilities. Video image (A) matches with the movement of itself, whereas (B) does not. Being able to discriminate the two means that the pigeon understands the difference between movements of itself and movements of the taped image. In this experiment, movements of the pigeon itself are in question instead of the mark of Gallup’s mark test (see 2-(1) below for explanation). When there is a temporal delay in the image of the present self, the longer the delay, the more pigeon’s discrimination was disrupted, and this also shows that the pigeon discriminates the video images using its own movements. The important thing is whether it understands the difference between movements in the video image that match with itself and movements in the video image that don’t.
Method of testing self recognition on animals
(1) Gallup’s mirror test (self-recognition test)
The self-recognition test on animals using mirrors was developed by psychology Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr. at the State University of New York, Albany. His papers released in 1970 in the “Science” magazine explaining that chimpanzees have abilities for self-recognition attracted attention. This test is known as the first to test self-recognition on animals. He anesthetized chimpanzees and then marked their faces. When the chimpanzees were awakened, they were confronted with a mirror and they touched the corresponding marked region of their own faces. Most tests of self-recognition are a variation of the Gallup test, and are used to assess self-recognition in a wide variety of species. It is also called the mark test, or the rouge test.
(2) Assessment of self-recognition on pigeons
Self-recognition can be assessed with cross-modality matching. A typical example of cross-modality matching is waving your hand when you see yourself in a video image. With a mirror image or video image of oneself, when information of the propriocepter (how the arms and legs of oneself are moving) and visual information of oneself correlate, this can be considered self-recognition. The Gallup’s mark test is based on the precondition that the subject can touch itself. Unless the subject touches itself, it cannot be proved that it has abilities for self-recognition. However, the test conducted on pigeons is more advanced, as it is based on how the pigeons move, and by memorizing the shown images, pigeons proved that they have self-cognitive abilities.
Self-cognitive abilities tested in pigeons are higher than that of 3-year olds
Through various experiments, it is known that pigeons have great visual cognitive abilities. For example, a research at Harvard University proved that pigeons could discriminate people photographs from others. At Prof. Shigeru Watanabe’s laboratory, pigeons could discriminate paintings of a certain painter (such as Van Gogh) from another painter (such as Chagall).
Furthermore, pigeons could discriminate other pigeons individually, and also discriminate stimulated pigeons that were given stimulant drugs from none. In this experiment, pigeons could discriminate video images that reflect their movements even with a 5-7 second delay from video images that don’t reflect their movements. This ability is higher than an average 3-year-olds of humans. According to a research by Prof. Hiraki of the University of Tokyo, 3-year-olds have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Journal reference:
Toda et al. Discrimination of moving video images of self by pigeons (Columba livia). Animal Cognition, 2008 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-008-0161-4
Adapted from materials provided by Keio University.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA
MLA
Keio University (2008, June 14). Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities To Three Year Old Humans. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/06/080613145535.htm
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Pigeons Are Smarter Than a Three-Year Old
Pigeons: Smarter than a three-year-old
USA Today
News from Japan that may make parents scramble for their Baby Mozart CDs.
Scientists there have shown pigeons are better at self-recognition than three-year-old children. The birds can also tell a Van Gogh from a Chagall.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of Keio University and a grad student found the pigeons were good at identifying their own mug in a video image. The birds could distinguish between video self-images that showed their movements vs. video images that didn't show their movements. That was even with a 5-7 second delay in the video.
The average three-year-old child has trouble recognizing their self-image with just a two-second delay.
We know self-recognition isn't uniquely human. Chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants also have the ability. The pigeon finding suggests an animal doesn't need a large brain to know its own image.
And sorry, kids -- this self-recognition thing? It's for the birds.
By Jess Zielinski
USA Today
News from Japan that may make parents scramble for their Baby Mozart CDs.
Scientists there have shown pigeons are better at self-recognition than three-year-old children. The birds can also tell a Van Gogh from a Chagall.
Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of Keio University and a grad student found the pigeons were good at identifying their own mug in a video image. The birds could distinguish between video self-images that showed their movements vs. video images that didn't show their movements. That was even with a 5-7 second delay in the video.
The average three-year-old child has trouble recognizing their self-image with just a two-second delay.
We know self-recognition isn't uniquely human. Chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants also have the ability. The pigeon finding suggests an animal doesn't need a large brain to know its own image.
And sorry, kids -- this self-recognition thing? It's for the birds.
By Jess Zielinski
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
New York Magazine - Pro-Pigeonism Article
New York Magazine - Pro-Pigeonism Article
Pigeons are nature’s ambassadors to many young New Yorkers. Kids may grow up singing about Old McDonald, imitating farm animals, and reciting their “this little piggy”s, but those animals aren’t city dwellers. What parent hasn’t gotten a whine-free afternoon thanks to some birds and a few crackers? Nonetheless, pigeons have enemies: landlords, the bird-poop-phobic, and Woody Allen, who dubbed them rats with wings. But on June 13, bird lovers will spring to the underdog’s defense by hosting National Pigeon Day in Central Park. “We’re trying to promote a positive image,” says New York Bird Club founder Anna Dove via telephone, rescued canaries tweeting in the background. “There’s such negativity for no reason. They’re harmless, defenseless. They can’t attack; their beak is very soft.” Other members of the crusade against “anti-pigeonism” include Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns and Valerie Sicignano of In Defense of Animals. The day is equal parts class and party: Kids will learn cool pigeon facts (e.g., how the birds acted as wartime carriers and how they’re smart enough to recognize alphabet letters) as they nibble on pigeon-shape cookies, view pigeon-inspired children’s art, and take part in a candlelight prayer service. (Dove worries there might not even be urban pigeons in five years.) Meanwhile, she urges all New York families to “carry a bit of bread crumbs in your bag, a few seeds to show kindness and respect. The pigeon isn’t a threat or an enemy. It goes along with quality of life to show kindness and compassion to all living things.” That’s a lovely lesson for the children.
6/13, 4 to 8 p.m. Pilgrim Hill in Central Park, enter on Fifth Ave. at 72nd St. (212-369-1293 or nationalpigeonday.com); free.
Pigeons are nature’s ambassadors to many young New Yorkers. Kids may grow up singing about Old McDonald, imitating farm animals, and reciting their “this little piggy”s, but those animals aren’t city dwellers. What parent hasn’t gotten a whine-free afternoon thanks to some birds and a few crackers? Nonetheless, pigeons have enemies: landlords, the bird-poop-phobic, and Woody Allen, who dubbed them rats with wings. But on June 13, bird lovers will spring to the underdog’s defense by hosting National Pigeon Day in Central Park. “We’re trying to promote a positive image,” says New York Bird Club founder Anna Dove via telephone, rescued canaries tweeting in the background. “There’s such negativity for no reason. They’re harmless, defenseless. They can’t attack; their beak is very soft.” Other members of the crusade against “anti-pigeonism” include Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns and Valerie Sicignano of In Defense of Animals. The day is equal parts class and party: Kids will learn cool pigeon facts (e.g., how the birds acted as wartime carriers and how they’re smart enough to recognize alphabet letters) as they nibble on pigeon-shape cookies, view pigeon-inspired children’s art, and take part in a candlelight prayer service. (Dove worries there might not even be urban pigeons in five years.) Meanwhile, she urges all New York families to “carry a bit of bread crumbs in your bag, a few seeds to show kindness and respect. The pigeon isn’t a threat or an enemy. It goes along with quality of life to show kindness and compassion to all living things.” That’s a lovely lesson for the children.
6/13, 4 to 8 p.m. Pilgrim Hill in Central Park, enter on Fifth Ave. at 72nd St. (212-369-1293 or nationalpigeonday.com); free.
Monday, June 9, 2008
National Pigeon Day - June 13th
Friday, June 13
4 - 8 pm
Pilgrim Hill in Central Park
New York, NY
(enter on northwest corner of 5th Avenue @ E. 72nd Street)
Entertainment, political activism, materials distribution, candlelight prayer service with guitar accompaniment and pigeon shaped cookies. Learn how carrier pigeons Cher Ami, GI Joe and Winkie saved the lives of more than 1,000 men in wartime. Become part of Project Pigeon Watch and have fun learning about our fascinating NYC residents.
Amanda Tree will host and play her music for National Pigeon Day.
Special Guest Joe Franklin
Speakers include:
Council Member Tony Avella, Nellie McKay, In Defense of Animals, Deacon Joseph Dwyer, Janice Fredericks, United Poultry Concerns, Raghav K. Goyal and Ana A. Garcia, Amanda Tree.
The New York Bird Club wishes to thank In Defense of Animals who will provide a banner, Hanna Fushihara Aron who will bake pigeon shaped cookies, God's Creatures Ministry who will provide candles, the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee who will bring Pigeon Watch materials for distribution, all speakers and contributors and all our pigeon friends who advocate on behalf of our beautiful birds.
Guest Speakers and Schedule:
(see blog)
4 - 8 pm
Pilgrim Hill in Central Park
New York, NY
(enter on northwest corner of 5th Avenue @ E. 72nd Street)
Entertainment, political activism, materials distribution, candlelight prayer service with guitar accompaniment and pigeon shaped cookies. Learn how carrier pigeons Cher Ami, GI Joe and Winkie saved the lives of more than 1,000 men in wartime. Become part of Project Pigeon Watch and have fun learning about our fascinating NYC residents.
Amanda Tree will host and play her music for National Pigeon Day.
Special Guest Joe Franklin
Speakers include:
Council Member Tony Avella, Nellie McKay, In Defense of Animals, Deacon Joseph Dwyer, Janice Fredericks, United Poultry Concerns, Raghav K. Goyal and Ana A. Garcia, Amanda Tree.
The New York Bird Club wishes to thank In Defense of Animals who will provide a banner, Hanna Fushihara Aron who will bake pigeon shaped cookies, God's Creatures Ministry who will provide candles, the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee who will bring Pigeon Watch materials for distribution, all speakers and contributors and all our pigeon friends who advocate on behalf of our beautiful birds.
Guest Speakers and Schedule:
(see blog)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Homing Pigeons' Wartime Accomplishments Celebrated on Anniversary of WW1 Battle
Chicago Tribune
Homing pigeons' wartime accomplishments celebrated on anniversary of WWI battle
In Wheaton, enthusiasts tell of birds' role in WWI
By Gerry Smith
Tribune reporter
8:35 PM CDT, May 31, 2008
They're seen mostly as an urban nuisance, filthy birds who frequently defecate on the statues of war heroes, but pigeons still hold a special place in the hearts of veterans.
On Saturday, during the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cantigny, the first U.S. victory of World War I, homing pigeons were celebrated at Cantigny Park in Wheaton for their pivotal role in protecting soldiers during the war.
As a breeder released homing pigeons into the sky, visitors observed exhibits highlighting the birds' valor in the line of duty.
During wartime, some pigeons were fitted with cameras to take photographs of enemy positions. Their most important role was as messengers, carrying notes that were neatly folded into small canisters attached to their legs.
During World War I, before the two-way radio, field commanders carried carrier pigeons to communicate. The pigeons would instinctively fly back to their home and deliver messages to military planners.
"Some of those birds had to fly across the English Channel," said Bill Mitiu, 56, a member of the Greater Chicago Combine, a group of homing pigeon-keepers.
Perhaps the most famous of the World War I carrier pigeons was named Cher Ami. The bird was credited with saving the lives of about 200 American soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division by delivering messages across enemy lines.
Recent scientific research has found that pigeons are able to navigate hundreds of miles based on smell, disproving prior theories that they used Earth's magnetic field to find their way home.
On Saturday, Mitiu released several pigeons. Some flew from the park in Wheaton to Mitiu's coop in Brookfield, a 20-mile journey that takes them about 20 minutes.
Today, homing pigeons are typically used for racing and sometimes referred to as "race horses of the sky." They are bred in backyard coops and wear a band on each leg—one with an ID number, the other with a computer chip that registers when they cross the finish line.
"They're amazing little athletes," Mitiu said.
But they have an image problem. In response to complaints about feathers and droppings around local coops, the Chicago City Council in 2004 banned raising pigeons in residential areas, making Chicago the largest city in the nation to enact such an ordinance.
The birds receive more respect in Europe, Mitiu said, where residents of some countries still remember the role of pigeons on the battlefield. For example, there are an estimated 60,000 pigeon enthusiasts in Belgium, a nation of 10 million people.
"These birds helped save their lives during wars, and they respect that and recognize that," Mitiu said.
gfsmith@tribune.com
Homing pigeons' wartime accomplishments celebrated on anniversary of WWI battle
In Wheaton, enthusiasts tell of birds' role in WWI
By Gerry Smith
Tribune reporter
8:35 PM CDT, May 31, 2008
They're seen mostly as an urban nuisance, filthy birds who frequently defecate on the statues of war heroes, but pigeons still hold a special place in the hearts of veterans.
On Saturday, during the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cantigny, the first U.S. victory of World War I, homing pigeons were celebrated at Cantigny Park in Wheaton for their pivotal role in protecting soldiers during the war.
As a breeder released homing pigeons into the sky, visitors observed exhibits highlighting the birds' valor in the line of duty.
During wartime, some pigeons were fitted with cameras to take photographs of enemy positions. Their most important role was as messengers, carrying notes that were neatly folded into small canisters attached to their legs.
During World War I, before the two-way radio, field commanders carried carrier pigeons to communicate. The pigeons would instinctively fly back to their home and deliver messages to military planners.
"Some of those birds had to fly across the English Channel," said Bill Mitiu, 56, a member of the Greater Chicago Combine, a group of homing pigeon-keepers.
Perhaps the most famous of the World War I carrier pigeons was named Cher Ami. The bird was credited with saving the lives of about 200 American soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division by delivering messages across enemy lines.
Recent scientific research has found that pigeons are able to navigate hundreds of miles based on smell, disproving prior theories that they used Earth's magnetic field to find their way home.
On Saturday, Mitiu released several pigeons. Some flew from the park in Wheaton to Mitiu's coop in Brookfield, a 20-mile journey that takes them about 20 minutes.
Today, homing pigeons are typically used for racing and sometimes referred to as "race horses of the sky." They are bred in backyard coops and wear a band on each leg—one with an ID number, the other with a computer chip that registers when they cross the finish line.
"They're amazing little athletes," Mitiu said.
But they have an image problem. In response to complaints about feathers and droppings around local coops, the Chicago City Council in 2004 banned raising pigeons in residential areas, making Chicago the largest city in the nation to enact such an ordinance.
The birds receive more respect in Europe, Mitiu said, where residents of some countries still remember the role of pigeons on the battlefield. For example, there are an estimated 60,000 pigeon enthusiasts in Belgium, a nation of 10 million people.
"These birds helped save their lives during wars, and they respect that and recognize that," Mitiu said.
gfsmith@tribune.com
Monday, May 26, 2008
A Tribute on Memorial Day to our Forgotten Heroes
Pigeons of war
'Mon Cher Ami--that's my dear friend--
In fierce fighting and deep in enemy territory, American pigeons carried life-or-death messages that radio and field phones could not.
This Memorial Day, when we commemorate the men and women who have died in war, we will also take a moment to reflect on how many pigeons and animals have also suffered and died for human military purposes.
Do you know that pigeons saved the lives of thousands of people during World War 1 and World War 11. Medals were bestowed upon the following pigeons for acts of bravery and for saving the lives of thousands of humans.
A complete list of pigeons awarded
Do you know that pigeons saved the lives of thousands of people during World War 1 and World War 11. Medals were bestowed upon the following pigeons for acts of bravery and for saving the lives of thousands of humans.
A complete list of pigeons awarded
"THE DICKEN MEDAL"
NEHU.40.NS.1 - Blue Cheq. Hen "Winkie"
MEPS.43.1263 - Red Cheq. Cock "George"
SURP.41.L.3089 - White Hen "White Vision"
NPS.41.NS.4230 - "Beachbomber"
NPS.42.31066 - Grizzle Cock "Gustav"
NPS.43.94451 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Paddy"
NURP.36.JH.190 - Dark Cheq. Hen "Kenley Lass"
NURP.38.EGU.242 - Red Cheq. Cock "Commando"
NPS.42.NS.44802 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Flying Dutchman"
NURP.40.GVIS.453- Blue Cock "Royal Blue"
NURP.41.A.2164 - "Dutch Coast"
NPS.41.NS.2862 - Blue Cock "Navy Blue"
NPS.42.NS.15125 - Mealy Cock "William of Orange"
NPS.43.29018 - Dark Cheq. Cock "Ruhr Express"
NPS.42.21610 - B.C. Hen "Scotch Lass"
NU.41.HQ.4373 - Blue Cock "Billy"
NURP.39.NRS.144 - Red Cock "Cologne"
NPS.42.36392 - "Maquis"
NPS.42.NS.7542 - 41.BA.2793 - "Broad Arrow"
NURP.39.SDS.39 - "All Alone"
NURP.37.CEN.335 - "Mercury"
NURP.38.
BPC.6 -
DD.43.T.139 -
DDD.43.Q.879 -
NURP.41.
SBC.219 - Cock "Duke of Normandy"
NURP.43.
CC.2418 - B.C. Hen
NURP.40.
WLE.249 - "Mary"
NURP.41.
DHZ.56 - "Tommy"
42.WD.593 - "Princess"USA.
43.SC.6390 - "G.I. Joe"
One can always observe pigeons on pictures with Kamadeva, one of the oldest Hindu love gods. Christian religion tells the story of Noah who sent a pigeon 3 times to look for a dry piece of land.
Greek and Roman history writers quote pigeons. Pigeons informed the home front on victories and defeats of kings and generals.
Pigeons were the newsmen between Iraq and at that time Syria in the 12th century. Sultans built pigeon houses. Belgian and Dutch newspapers depended for a great deal on pigeons for their information.
Napoleon's defeat in the battle of "Waterloo" was reported to England by Nathan Rotschild's pigeons.
From Wartime Hero to Modern-Day Nuisance (snippet: ABC News)
Felder's announcement Monday was somewhat timely, as Nov. 12 was the day we observed Veterans Day, honoring America's wartime heroes. But few remembered that thousands of American and allied forces were saved in World Wars I and II by pigeons. Pigeons?
For centuries, pigeons were used to carry important messages in wartime when communication lines were down, according to Andrew Blechman in his book, "Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird."
Blechman recounts one instance of the birds' heroism in the story of the U.S. Army's 77th Division, later known as the Lost Battalion, in World War I. The battalion was trapped behind enemy lines while American troops 25 miles away, unaware of the 77th's position, unleashed a massive artillery attack on them. The desperate soldiers wrote a message: "Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" and attached it to their carrier pigeon, Cher Ami.
----------------------
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon
http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/carrierpigeons.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pigeons_and_world_war_one.htm http://www.travelingdogs.com/pigeonsiniraq.html
http://www.pigeoncenter.org/militarypigeons.html
http://www.pigeoncote.com/books/others/wars1.html
http://www.faircountclub.com/faircount_facts_info_world_war.htm
http://www.helpinganimals.com/wildlife_living_with_pigeons.asp
Home of the Heroes
Cher Ami (Dear Friend)
Greek and Roman history writers quote pigeons. Pigeons informed the home front on victories and defeats of kings and generals.
Pigeons were the newsmen between Iraq and at that time Syria in the 12th century. Sultans built pigeon houses. Belgian and Dutch newspapers depended for a great deal on pigeons for their information.
Napoleon's defeat in the battle of "Waterloo" was reported to England by Nathan Rotschild's pigeons.
From Wartime Hero to Modern-Day Nuisance (snippet: ABC News)
Felder's announcement Monday was somewhat timely, as Nov. 12 was the day we observed Veterans Day, honoring America's wartime heroes. But few remembered that thousands of American and allied forces were saved in World Wars I and II by pigeons. Pigeons?
For centuries, pigeons were used to carry important messages in wartime when communication lines were down, according to Andrew Blechman in his book, "Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird."
Blechman recounts one instance of the birds' heroism in the story of the U.S. Army's 77th Division, later known as the Lost Battalion, in World War I. The battalion was trapped behind enemy lines while American troops 25 miles away, unaware of the 77th's position, unleashed a massive artillery attack on them. The desperate soldiers wrote a message: "Our artillery is dropping a barrage on us. For heaven's sake, stop it!" and attached it to their carrier pigeon, Cher Ami.
----------------------
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon
http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/carrierpigeons.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pigeons_and_world_war_one.htm http://www.travelingdogs.com/pigeonsiniraq.html
http://www.pigeoncenter.org/militarypigeons.html
http://www.pigeoncote.com/books/others/wars1.html
http://www.faircountclub.com/faircount_facts_info_world_war.htm
http://www.helpinganimals.com/wildlife_living_with_pigeons.asp
Home of the Heroes
Cher Ami (Dear Friend)
The ability to communicate is essential to soldiers in the field. Without communications to their commanders or support units in the rear area, soldiers on the front line can't send messages about their progress, request needed supplies, or call for help when things reach their worst.
During World War I, messages were sometimes transmitted by wire (telegraph of field phone), but two-way radio communications had not yet become available. Sometimes a unit was ordered to attack over a broad and often difficult terrain, making it impossible to string the wire necessary for communications. In these situations, a field commander often carried with him several carrier pigeons.
Pigeons served many purposes during the war, racing through the skies with airplanes, or even being fitted with cameras to take pictures of enemy positions. But one of the most important roles they served it was as messengers. An important message could be written on a piece of paper, then that paper neatly folded and secured in a small canister attached to a pigeon's leg. Once the pigeon was released, it would try to fly to its home back behind the lines, where the message would be read and transmitted to the proper military planners.
During World War I, messages were sometimes transmitted by wire (telegraph of field phone), but two-way radio communications had not yet become available. Sometimes a unit was ordered to attack over a broad and often difficult terrain, making it impossible to string the wire necessary for communications. In these situations, a field commander often carried with him several carrier pigeons.
Pigeons served many purposes during the war, racing through the skies with airplanes, or even being fitted with cameras to take pictures of enemy positions. But one of the most important roles they served it was as messengers. An important message could be written on a piece of paper, then that paper neatly folded and secured in a small canister attached to a pigeon's leg. Once the pigeon was released, it would try to fly to its home back behind the lines, where the message would be read and transmitted to the proper military planners.
The United States Army is divided among several different specialties, the men from each specialty trained for a particular kind of work. Infantrymen are trained to fight on the ground, artillerymen are responsible for the big guns, armor refers to the men who fight in tanks, and the Air Service was the name for the group of soldiers who fought in the air during World War I.
One of the oldest of these groups of soldiers was the members of the U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS. Since the birth of our Nation, it was these men that were responsible for insuring that messages between all units, (including messages to other branches of service like the Navy and Marines), got through. The Army Signal Corps identifies itself by a torch with two crossed flags. These represent SIGNAL FLAGS, a common way that messages were passed using code.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Army Signal Corps was given 600 pigeons for the purpose of passing messages when it couldn't be done by signal flag or field phone. The pigeons were donated by bird breeders in Great Britain, then trained for their jobs by American soldiers.
During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the 2-month battle that finally ended World War I, 442 pigeons were used in the area of Verdun to carry hundreds of messages.
This is how the system worked:
When a commander in the field needed to send a message, he first wrote it out on paper, trying to be both brief and yet as detailed as possible. Then he called for one of his Signal Corps officers, who would bring one of the pigeons that went with the soldiers into battle. The message would be put in the capsule on the birds leg, and then the bird would be tossed high in the air to fly home.
The carrier pigeon would fly back to his home coop behind the lines. When he landed, the wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer, and another soldier of the Signal Corps would know a message had arrived. He would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and then send it by telegraph, field phone or personal messenger, to the right persons.
Carrier pigeons did an important job. It was also very dangerous. If the enemy soldiers were nearby when a pigeon was released, they knew that the bird would be carrying important messages, and tried their best to shoot the pigeon down so the message couldn't be delivered.
Some of these pigeons became quite famous among the infantrymen they worked for. One pigeon named "The Mocker", flew 52 missions before he was wounded. Another was named "President Wilson". He was injured in the last week of the war and it seemed impossible for him to reach his destination. Though he lost his foot, the message got through to save a large group of surrounded American infantrymen.
Cher Ami
Probably the most famous of all the carrier pigeons was one named Cher Ami, two French words meaning "Dear Friend". Cher Ami several months on the front lines during the Fall of 1918. He flew 12 important missions to deliver messages. Perhaps the most important was the message he carried on October 4, 1918.
Mr. Charles Whittlesey was a lawyer in New York, but when the United States called for soldiers to help France regain its freedom, Whittlesey joined the Army and went to Europe to help. He was made the commander of a battalion of soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division, known as "The Liberty Division" because most of the men came from New York and wore a bright blue patch on their shoulders that had on it the STATUE OF LIBERTY.
On October 3, 1918 Major Whittlesey and more than 500 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, many were killed and wounded in the first day. By the second day only a little more than 200 men were still alive or unwounded.
Major Whittlesey sent out several pigeons to tell his commanders where he was, and how bad the trap was. The next afternoon he had only one pigeon left, Cher Ami.
During the afternoon the American Artillery tried to send some protection by firing hundreds of big artillery rounds into the ravine where the Germans surrounded Major Whittlesey and his men. Unfortunately, the American commanders didn't know exactly where the American soldiers were, and started dropping the big shells right on top of them. It was a horrible situation that might have resulted in Major Whittlesey and all his men getting killed--by their own army.
Major Whittlesey called for his last pigeon, Cher Ami. He wrote a quick and simple note, telling the men who directed the artillery guns where the Americans were located and asking them to stop. The note that was put in the canister on Cher Ami's left leg simply said:
"We are along the road parallel to 276.4."Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us."For heaven's sake, stop it."
As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. For several minutes, bullets zipped through the air all around him. For a minute it looked like the little pigeon was going to fall, that he wasn't going to make it. The doomed American infantrymen were crushed, their last home was plummeting to earth against a very heavy attack from German bullets.
Somehow Cher Ami managed to spread his wings and start climbing again, higher and higher beyond the range of the enemy guns. The little bird flew 25 miles in only 25 minutes to deliver his message. The shelling stopped, and more than 200 American lives were saved...all because the little bird would never quit trying.
On his last mission, Cher Ami was badly wounded. When he finally reached his coop, he could fly no longer, and the soldier that answered the sound of the bell found the little bird laying on his back, covered in blood. He had been blinded in one eye, and a bullet had hit his breastbone, making a hole the size of a quarter. From that awful hole, hanging by just a few tendons, was the almost severed leg of the brave little bird. Attached to that leg was a silver canister, with the all-important message. Once again, Cher Ami wouldn't quit until he had finished his job.
Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division, and the medics worked long and hard to patch him up. When the French soldiers that the Americans were fighting to help learned they story of Cher Ami's bravery and determination, they gave him one of their own country's great honors. Cher Ami, the brave carrier pigeon was presented a medal called the French Croix de guerre with a palm leaf.
Though the dedicated medics saved Cher Ami's life, they couldn't save his leg. The men of the Division were careful to take care of the little bird that had saved 200 of their friends, and even carved a small wooden leg for him. When Cher Ami was well enough to travel, the little one-legged hero was put on a boat to the United States. The commander of all of the United States Army, the great General John J. Pershing, personally saw Cher Ami off as he departed France.
Back in the United States the story of Cher Ami was told again and again. The little bird was in the newspapers, magazines, and it seemed that everyone knew his name. He became one of the most famous heroes of World War I.
One of the oldest of these groups of soldiers was the members of the U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS. Since the birth of our Nation, it was these men that were responsible for insuring that messages between all units, (including messages to other branches of service like the Navy and Marines), got through. The Army Signal Corps identifies itself by a torch with two crossed flags. These represent SIGNAL FLAGS, a common way that messages were passed using code.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Army Signal Corps was given 600 pigeons for the purpose of passing messages when it couldn't be done by signal flag or field phone. The pigeons were donated by bird breeders in Great Britain, then trained for their jobs by American soldiers.
During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the 2-month battle that finally ended World War I, 442 pigeons were used in the area of Verdun to carry hundreds of messages.
This is how the system worked:
When a commander in the field needed to send a message, he first wrote it out on paper, trying to be both brief and yet as detailed as possible. Then he called for one of his Signal Corps officers, who would bring one of the pigeons that went with the soldiers into battle. The message would be put in the capsule on the birds leg, and then the bird would be tossed high in the air to fly home.
The carrier pigeon would fly back to his home coop behind the lines. When he landed, the wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer, and another soldier of the Signal Corps would know a message had arrived. He would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and then send it by telegraph, field phone or personal messenger, to the right persons.
Carrier pigeons did an important job. It was also very dangerous. If the enemy soldiers were nearby when a pigeon was released, they knew that the bird would be carrying important messages, and tried their best to shoot the pigeon down so the message couldn't be delivered.
Some of these pigeons became quite famous among the infantrymen they worked for. One pigeon named "The Mocker", flew 52 missions before he was wounded. Another was named "President Wilson". He was injured in the last week of the war and it seemed impossible for him to reach his destination. Though he lost his foot, the message got through to save a large group of surrounded American infantrymen.
Cher Ami
Probably the most famous of all the carrier pigeons was one named Cher Ami, two French words meaning "Dear Friend". Cher Ami several months on the front lines during the Fall of 1918. He flew 12 important missions to deliver messages. Perhaps the most important was the message he carried on October 4, 1918.
Mr. Charles Whittlesey was a lawyer in New York, but when the United States called for soldiers to help France regain its freedom, Whittlesey joined the Army and went to Europe to help. He was made the commander of a battalion of soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division, known as "The Liberty Division" because most of the men came from New York and wore a bright blue patch on their shoulders that had on it the STATUE OF LIBERTY.
On October 3, 1918 Major Whittlesey and more than 500 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, many were killed and wounded in the first day. By the second day only a little more than 200 men were still alive or unwounded.
Major Whittlesey sent out several pigeons to tell his commanders where he was, and how bad the trap was. The next afternoon he had only one pigeon left, Cher Ami.
During the afternoon the American Artillery tried to send some protection by firing hundreds of big artillery rounds into the ravine where the Germans surrounded Major Whittlesey and his men. Unfortunately, the American commanders didn't know exactly where the American soldiers were, and started dropping the big shells right on top of them. It was a horrible situation that might have resulted in Major Whittlesey and all his men getting killed--by their own army.
Major Whittlesey called for his last pigeon, Cher Ami. He wrote a quick and simple note, telling the men who directed the artillery guns where the Americans were located and asking them to stop. The note that was put in the canister on Cher Ami's left leg simply said:
"We are along the road parallel to 276.4."Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us."For heaven's sake, stop it."
As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. For several minutes, bullets zipped through the air all around him. For a minute it looked like the little pigeon was going to fall, that he wasn't going to make it. The doomed American infantrymen were crushed, their last home was plummeting to earth against a very heavy attack from German bullets.
Somehow Cher Ami managed to spread his wings and start climbing again, higher and higher beyond the range of the enemy guns. The little bird flew 25 miles in only 25 minutes to deliver his message. The shelling stopped, and more than 200 American lives were saved...all because the little bird would never quit trying.
On his last mission, Cher Ami was badly wounded. When he finally reached his coop, he could fly no longer, and the soldier that answered the sound of the bell found the little bird laying on his back, covered in blood. He had been blinded in one eye, and a bullet had hit his breastbone, making a hole the size of a quarter. From that awful hole, hanging by just a few tendons, was the almost severed leg of the brave little bird. Attached to that leg was a silver canister, with the all-important message. Once again, Cher Ami wouldn't quit until he had finished his job.
Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division, and the medics worked long and hard to patch him up. When the French soldiers that the Americans were fighting to help learned they story of Cher Ami's bravery and determination, they gave him one of their own country's great honors. Cher Ami, the brave carrier pigeon was presented a medal called the French Croix de guerre with a palm leaf.
Though the dedicated medics saved Cher Ami's life, they couldn't save his leg. The men of the Division were careful to take care of the little bird that had saved 200 of their friends, and even carved a small wooden leg for him. When Cher Ami was well enough to travel, the little one-legged hero was put on a boat to the United States. The commander of all of the United States Army, the great General John J. Pershing, personally saw Cher Ami off as he departed France.
Back in the United States the story of Cher Ami was told again and again. The little bird was in the newspapers, magazines, and it seemed that everyone knew his name. He became one of the most famous heroes of World War I.
Years after the war a man named Harry Webb Farrington decided to put together a book of poems and short stories about the men and heroes of World War I. When his book was published, it contained a special poem dedicated to Cher Ami:
Cher Ami
by Harry Webb Farrington
Cher Ami, how do you do!
Listen, let me talk to you;
Cher Ami
by Harry Webb Farrington
Cher Ami, how do you do!
Listen, let me talk to you;
I'll not hurt you, don't you see?
Come a little close to me.
Little scrawny blue and white
Come a little close to me.
Little scrawny blue and white
Messenger for men who fight,
Tell me of the deep, red scar,
There, just where no feathers are.
What about your poor left leg?
Tell me, Cher Ami, I beg.
Boys and girls are at a loss,
How you won that Silver Cross.
how do you do! Listen,
What about your poor left leg?
Tell me, Cher Ami, I beg.
Boys and girls are at a loss,
How you won that Silver Cross.
how do you do! Listen,
let me talk to you;
I'll not hurt you, don't you see?
Come a little close to me.
"The finest fun that came to me
I'll not hurt you, don't you see?
Come a little close to me.
"The finest fun that came to me
Was when I went with Whittlesey;
We marched so fast, so far ahead!'
We all are lost,' the keeper said;
'Mon Cher Ami--that's my dear friend--
You are the one we'll have to send;
The whole battalion now is lost,
And you must win at any cost.'
So with the message tied on tight;
I flew up straight with all my might,
Before I got up high enough,
Those watchfull guns began to puff.
Machine-gun bullets came like rain,
You'd think I was an aeroplane;
And when I started to the rear,
I flew up straight with all my might,
Before I got up high enough,
Those watchfull guns began to puff.
Machine-gun bullets came like rain,
You'd think I was an aeroplane;
And when I started to the rear,
My! the shot was coming near!
But on I flew, straight as a bee;
The wind could not catch up with me,
Until I dropped out of the air,
But on I flew, straight as a bee;
The wind could not catch up with me,
Until I dropped out of the air,
Into our own men's camp, so there!"
But, Cher Ami, upon my word,
You modest, modest little bird;
Now don't you know that you forgot?
Tell how your breast and leg were shot.
"Oh, yes, the day we crossed the Meuse,
I flew to Rampont with the news;
But, Cher Ami, upon my word,
You modest, modest little bird;
Now don't you know that you forgot?
Tell how your breast and leg were shot.
"Oh, yes, the day we crossed the Meuse,
I flew to Rampont with the news;
Again the bullets came like hail,
I thought for sure that I should fail.
The bullets buzzed by like a bee,
So close, it almost frightened me;
One struck the feathers of this sail,
I thought for sure that I should fail.
The bullets buzzed by like a bee,
So close, it almost frightened me;
One struck the feathers of this sail,
Another went right through my tail.
But when I got back to the rear,
I found they hit me, here and here;
But that is nothing, never mind;
Old Poilu, there is nearly blind.
I only care for what they said,
But when I got back to the rear,
I found they hit me, here and here;
But that is nothing, never mind;
Old Poilu, there is nearly blind.
I only care for what they said,
For when they saw the way I bled,
And found in front a swollen lump,
And found in front a swollen lump,
The message hanging from this stump;
The French and Mine said, 'Tres bien,'
The French and Mine said, 'Tres bien,'
Or 'Very good'--American.'
Mon Cher Ami, you brought good news;
Our Army's gone across the Meuse!
You surely had a lucky call!
Mon Cher Ami, you brought good news;
Our Army's gone across the Meuse!
You surely had a lucky call!
And so I'm glad. I guess that's all.
I'll sit, so pardon me, I beg;
It's hard a-standing on one leg!"
"Cher Ami" and Poems From France
I'll sit, so pardon me, I beg;
It's hard a-standing on one leg!"
"Cher Ami" and Poems From France
Rough & Brown Press, 1920
Cher Ami died of his multiple war wounds on June 13, 1919--less than a year after he had completed his service to the United States Army Signal Corps. Upon his death a taxidermist preserved the small pigeon for future generations, a bird with a story that became an inspiration to millions over the years.
Cher Ami died of his multiple war wounds on June 13, 1919--less than a year after he had completed his service to the United States Army Signal Corps. Upon his death a taxidermist preserved the small pigeon for future generations, a bird with a story that became an inspiration to millions over the years.
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