The Flight Of Pigeons

[Twyla Plack]

Hereat my Bedford, New York farm, I always enjoy teaching visitors about the many birds I keep - the peafowl, the Guinea fowl, the geese, the pigeons, and of course my chickens. Most recently, I added four fancy Owl pigeons to my flight from The Wellwood Pigeon Store on Long Island - beautiful white and gray birds that resemble the silver gull in color and markings.

These Owl pigeons join my Homers, Tipplers, Egyptian Swifts, and Syrian Damascenes. They live in a pen adjacent to my peafowl yard and across from my stable. Pigeons have been domesticated for thousands of years and have been kept by people worldwide for their companionship, their sport, and their loyal service. They are fascinating and intelligent creatures. I am so glad my pigeons thrive here at Cantitoe Corners.

Despite a rather hazy start and less than promising forecast today turned out to be quite an unexpectedly glorious day! I spent the morning on my local patch but with little activity at ground level I turned my attention skywards, using the opportunity to practice some in flight photography starting with the local pigeon flock.

In fact, as shown in this paper from1965,the body temperature of pigeons averages about 108F (43C), making itdifficult for their pathogens to survive in the human body and making littlefeet feel warm to the touch!

At the same time, I was working on a blockchain-related project. Spending all mytime worrying that I might be interfering with nature or abetting thedevelopment of a global greed-virus started to get to me.

Around the time I finally figured out the blockchain project, it became clear tome that Snowflake was probably not going to get better. They were havinghorrible seizures. I brought them to visit the park that was once their home,and then to a wildlife rescue center in Manhattan.

In the weeks that followed, I tried to think about how I could use my newpigeon-care skills to help other birds, or make pigeons a bigger part of mylife. I learned more about the people who keep pigeons on their roofs, andstarted to make serious plans to become one of them.

For many rooftop pigeon keepers in New York, keeping pigeons is a game, a gamequite different from pigeon racing or breeding for show. I learned that pigeonkeepers release their flocks during the day, and the birds fly out and intermixwith other neighboring flocks, communicating via flight. The pigeon keepers hopethat all the birds will come home in the evening, along with birds from aneighboring flock. Hundreds of birds can be gained or lost in a day, and birdscan be held hostage or ransomed back to their owners.

I hope that this peer-to-peer game ultimately results in happy pigeons andpeople. I enjoy imagining a future where many more people compete to attract andcare for flocks of birds, or engage in similar activities. This vision helped mein the late weeks of 2017.

Pigeons are reasonably fast flyers when out in the open. Since there are some peregrine falcons that make their year round nest at the lift bridge the pigeons in this area tend to fly to their nests with a degree of urgency.

It has been a while since I attempted to capture images of pigeons in flight at this location. I decided to use Pro Capture L in combination with Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, and had good success with this approach.

I went to the lift bridge with the specific objective of capturing some pigeon in flight images. Given that, I was more discerning with my choice of subject birds in flight and spent more time waiting for specific photographic opportunities than I would have done if this had been a practice session.

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process. Crops are noted. Photographs were resized for web use. This is the 1,160 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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Watching a flock of city pigeons in flight can be mesmerizing. Here is my first attempt to capture a flock in flight, wheeling and circling over 110th Street and Broadway. Is it my imagination or does the flock grow, attracting other birds to fly with it as if by centrifugal force? Look closely at around the 35 second mark and then again around 42 seconds. Strange and wonderful.

Tags: amazing starling video, flight of pigeons, murmuration of starlings, NYC pigeons, pgieons flying over city streets, pigeons over 110th street nyc, pigoens in flight, starlings swarming

Clearly there is no shortage of birds in the city. They seem to look a buildings as their own domain, like they were cliffs. Sort of what the peregrines do, right? I think there are more falcons in cities now than in rural areas. Nature adapting to humans.

Pigeons are known for their ability to travel long distances to specific locations. Like many birds, they navigate using the sun and by sensing the Earth's magnetic field. Though these senses help pigeons find their bearings, they do not usually generate the most efficient routes.

Dr. Dalmaijer gathered data from previously published studies where pigeons that were familiar with a route were paired with pigeons that had not flown the route before. These data demonstrated that when the inexperienced pigeon is introduced, the pair flies a more direct route to their destination. However, these previous studies could not determine how the paired birds generate more efficient routes.

Dr. Dalmaijer compared the pigeon flight data to a computer model that prioritized four main factors. These four factors represent what might be involved in choosing a flight path with minimal cognition, including: direction to the goal, representing the bird's internal compass; proximity to the other pigeon; the remembered route; and general consistency, since the birds are unlikely to make erratic turns.

In the model, the simulated birds, referred to as "agents," made over 60 journeys. Once every 12 journeys, one of the agents was replaced with an agent that had not made the trip before, simulating a young bird. This resulted in a generational increase in the efficiency of the flight routes. These improvements are similar to those seen in the real-life data from pigeon pairs, though the pigeon data did not match the most optimal version of the model, likely because pigeons are influenced by additional factors that the model could not account for.

When some of the parameters of the model were removed, such as memory of the route or the desire to be near the other pigeon, there was no generational improvement. "These results suggest that stepwise improvement between generations can occur when individuals simply seek proximity to others," Dr. Dalmaijer said.

The model demonstrates learning in both directions. As expected, the younger agent benefits from the older agent by learning the route. However, it also shows that the older agent benefits from the younger agent. Since younger agents are not following an internal route, they are more oriented to the final destination. The agents' desire for social proximity between the two balances these draws, leading to an overall more efficient route. Additionally, these findings may be applicable to other species beyond pigeons, such as ants and some types of fish, which also make journeys based on memory and social factors.

Dr. Dalmaijeradds, "I grew up in the Netherlands, in a city where pigeons constantly walk into oncoming bicycle traffic, so I don't have the highest opinion of pigeon intellect. On the one hand, this study vindicates that, by showing the gradual improvement in route efficiency also emerges in 'dumb' artificial agents. On the other hand, I have gained a huge respect for all the impressive work done in pigeon navigation and cumulative culture, and even a little bit for the humble pigeon (as long as they stay away from my bike)."

The men who take up this hobby have a deep passion for their pigeons but are often skeptical of those not involved with the sport. They can be reluctant to include outsiders, as if they accept that spectators will never fully understand the significance of these birds.

Being asked about their birds can make even the quietest pigeon owner light up. It is as though a door is unlocked, revealing a side to someone that would have remained hidden had they not been asked about their birds.

When pigeons are about a week old they learn to step backward before pooping and they continue to do this during their adult life, which is why you are likely to be pooped on by a perching pigeon if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Today there is an unreasonable hysteria about pigeon poop, but in earlier times it was so valuable as a fertiliser that it was used as a dowry and left as an inheritance! Even today it is probably the best organic fertiliser for vegetable patches that you can find (after it has been composted, of course).

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