Homing Pigeon

The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia domestica) selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate. This made it relatively easy to breed from the birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. Flights as long as 1,800 km (1,100 mi) have been recorded by birds in competition pigeon racing. Their average flying speed over moderate distances (500 miles) is around 80 km/h (50 mph), but speeds of up to 177 km/h (110 mph) have been observed in top racers for short distance (100 miles).

Homing pigeons are called messenger or carrier pigeons when they are used to carry messages.

Read more about Homing Pigeon:  Sex Difference, Reproduction, Good Breed Identification Method, History, Navigation

Famous quotes containing the words homing and/or pigeon:

    All money nowadays seems to be produced with a natural homing instinct for the Treasury.
    Prince Philip (b. 1921)

    Suppose that humans happen to be so constructed that they desire the opportunity for freely undertaken productive work. Suppose that they want to be free from the meddling of technocrats and commissars, bankers and tycoons, mad bombers who engage in psychological tests of will with peasants defending their homes, behavioral scientists who can’t tell a pigeon from a poet, or anyone else who tries to wish freedom and dignity out of existence or beat them into oblivion.
    Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)