The Carrier Pigeon, A Bird That Has Made History

Currently, with our sophisticated communication systems that allow us to send messages immediately to any part of the world, it is very difficult to think that at some point one of the fastest means of transmitting communications was through the use of homing pigeons. However, we owe much to the ability of these birds, which for centuries traveled long distances to carry messages that did not wait.

Racing pigeons differ from the others, because they have an excellent sense of direction and have a more athletic physique, being able to travel up to a thousand kilometers in a single day at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

Use of the carrier pigeon in history

Historically the use of racing pigeons has been very varied. For example, it had a vital importance during the war periods in the Middle Ages, where mail was regulated through these animals, although its history dates back many years.

There are records that there was already a mail through carrier pigeons since 2,800 BC. From mythology and literature we get multiple stories where their work is appreciated, for example in The Thousand and One Nights they refer to them as a possession of great importance, let’s look at this fragment: “… you have to seize, in addition, the forty carrier pigeons of the caliph, put them in a cage and bring them to me too! “

They have been a significant symbol to represent the delivery of messages, if we review texts such as the Bible, we see that the Holy Spirit through a dove, made Mary known of the birth of Jesus, it is also a dove that delivers to Noah an olive twig as a message that there was land nearby.

Likewise, within the Greco-Roman structures we find references to the use of pigeons for communication purposes. For example, it  was they who made the names of the winners of the Olympic games known in the confines of the empire. The Roman troops had in turn portable dovecotes that they carried in their different war campaigns.

However, its use is not exclusive to classical history. During WWI it was a true privilege to have these feathered friends, and even during WWII they were used to prevent conversations from being intercepted. In both wars the training of different animals was important, such as dogs, cats, even thinking about training bats.

Although they did not carry messages exclusively, they were also used to send small objects that were urgently needed elsewhere, for example tubes with blood samples between hospitals or laboratories.

Some modern armies continue to maintain and train homing pigeons, this in order to have a contingency plan in the event of a military conflict that involves a collapse of modern communication systems.

Carrier pigeons today

Although pigeon racing (which is how the breeding and training of homing pigeons is called) is still being implemented, they are used mainly for sport, being a deeply rooted activity in Spain.

There are a significant number of fan clubs, in order to maintain the tradition of training racing pigeons, as well as promoting sport and healthy competition.

The sport consists of accustoming a pigeon to return to its loft, so that after a while flying, they return to it. The idea is that two or more pigeons are released and they must lead the other to their loft, either conquering it or dragging it (for this they are known as pickpockets). The owner of the winning pigeon may keep the rival’s copy.

Another modality corresponds to releasing the pigeons in an open space, or from a different loft than the one they are used to, and the one that manages to identify and reach their respective loft will win.