Professional breeders have long called those "pigeons" that most people call "postal" professional. Postal services are now much more reliable and faster than shipping with a bird. From air to electronic - all of these methods are faster and, definitely, rather feathered postmen. However, the ability of birds to navigate in a vast space and the ability to accurately deliver the messages entrusted to them does not give rest to many minds to this day. Even scientists have not yet come to a consensus on how carrier pigeons know where to fly.
Biography of the average carrier pigeon
The fate of an ordinary street pigeon can be different - it has a chance to calmly live to old age or become a cat's prey at a very young age - it's not about them.
The conversation will be about those who are conditionally called "postal". Although in fact the breed of carrier pigeons was not originally there. But for several decades now there are the results of painstaking work on the selection and breeding of the most intelligent and hardy birds of their kind. And also the correct maintenance and hard training, from where carrier pigeons know where to fly to.
Speaking about the life expectancy of an average sports bird, they usually call it 20-25 years. Pigeon postmen retire after 15.
Their body reaches the best physical indicators for flight 3-4 years after birth. At this age, birds also possess the most suitable genetic material for transmission to offspring. However, they reach puberty much earlier - from five months they are able to breed and can do this until about twelve years.
The choice of a pair of domestic pigeons is the work of their master. The female and the male (in order to achieve good offspring, the best representatives of the breed, group are selected) are sent from other birds to a special box. In it they are together for several days. After release, the birds either separate, or try to be closer to each other. The second option means that the matchmaking succeeded, and in the dovecot it became one more pair.
Egg laying (usually from one to three pieces) occurs approximately two weeks after intercourse. And among them there are those in which the chicks develop, but there are no prospects. The fertilized shell will condense and acquire a milky color, and later become darker. The rest can be easily determined - their coating will remain translucent, not smooth, but rough.
The children are born blind, with rare fluff, after about 2.5 weeks of alternating hatching by both parents.
Usually they leave one - the strongest chick. However, their gender must be taken into account. the first is usually a boy, the second is a female. Possible jigging for couples without offspring.
The first two weeks of the chicks are fed a substance called milk. It is formed in the parental goiter. Then, undigested grains of adults are added to the diet, mixed with the secret they secrete. At the age of one month, pigeons are fed with soaked grains, and from one and a half they are transferred to adult nutrition. Settlement in the dovecote produce at the same time intervals. The number of pigeons and male pigeons should be equal.
The main characteristics of sports pigeons
Very often, carrier pigeons in the photo are white. However, rocks with different plumage colors have good flight characteristics.
In order to successfully complete the movement of necessary goods through the air, the bird must meet certain standards. To succeed, the carrier pigeon does not know how and where to fly.
The athlete and the postman need the following characteristics:
- large beak, often on it you can see a clearly visible hump;
- waxen - a thickened area of the skin located at the base of the beak, should be pronounced and developed;
- often have brighter and larger rings bordering the eyes;
- dense build, large body size;
- long powerful wings;
- the chest is wide;
- the bird should fly at an altitude of 100 to 150 meters above the ground;
- speed up to 100-120 km / h with an average in flight of about 60-70 km / h;
- a sports, trained pigeon is able to cover a distance of 1100 km, sometimes a little further;
- the bird must support a weight of 1/3 of its body mass during transportation, this is approximately 90 grams;
- learning ability;
- endurance.
Pigeons fly home
Answering the question of how carrier pigeons find the recipient is very simple. They are not looking for him. Birds know their home. This phenomenon even has its own term - "homing." From the English word home - home.
They are trained and trained in such a way that birds can recognize him at different times of the year and from different angles. For this, in addition to focused training, they are provided with maximum freedom of movement.
In order for the birds to always fly back, you need to know and take into account some features of their lifestyle. These birds live in pairs. Every wild representative can find a permanent habitat, and even better, well-trained poultry can do this. All carrier pigeons know where to fly. How to make your pet come back?
Avoiding long-distance training of mature birds that have not yet decided on a pair in the dovecot. Otherwise, they can find their soul mate on the side and stay there. Also in the wild there is a chance to stay with those pigeons who were separated from their homes for a substantial time.
How carrier pigeons determine where to fly
Scientists have debated about the ability of these birds, like some others, to stably find a house from distances exceeding a thousand kilometers, for many years. There are two major versions.
The largest number of adherents has a theory about the orientation of postmen to low-frequency sound waves that have different parts of the terrain on the planet. In addition to geographical areas, they are also possessed by certain modes of transport and individual land-based man-made objects.
These vibrations and vibrations are not perceived by ear by many living beings, including humans (less than 16, and according to some reports, below 10 hertz).
Infrasounds are recognizable and characteristic. We can say that the Earth has a unique map based on low-frequency waves. It is guided by her that carrier pigeons know where to fly.
As experimental tests showed, in support of this opinion, cases were noted when skillful messengers in flight went astray. When examining the area from the position of infrasound, it turned out that the birds were wandering in places of so-called "acoustic silence". In these areas, the winged simply have nothing to focus on.
The second, less popular version is that birds determine the path by the Earth’s magnetic field. Even newborn chicks identify and capture information about the place where they are at this moment. Based on information about the magnetic field, the pigeons navigate on a long journey.
Perhaps the further development of science and related equipment will make it possible to establish exactly why carrier pigeons know where to fly and how to build a route.
Long-range bird training
The increase in distance is gradual. Between flights, it is important to take proportional breaks to restore the strength of the bird.
In the first year of training, the distance is usually brought up to three hundred kilometers or a little more, starting from twenty to thirty.
For release use elevated terrain, flat terrain.
By the time of reaching the age sufficient to participate in competitions, and this is three to four years, a sports bird is already able to cover a distance of a thousand kilometers.
Age and gender
For long distances, both males and females are used. Young doves begin to be trained from a month and a half, but not earlier than three days after they move to a new place.
For the first six weeks, they simply describe the circles above the dovecote. Provided that they mastered this simple exercise, they begin to be trained to return home from further distances.
At this point, they should be accustomed to the transport cage and easy to go into the hands. At night, the birds are not active, so it is recommended to take them from their homes in the predawn hours.
Training time
For training at the beginning of training, only clear weather is used. Trained graduate in almost any.
The warmer months are used in the year - active training takes place from April to October.
Ideally, an early morning is chosen in the day. Acceptance of training before noon. After twelve days, training pigeons do not do.
