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Hi I Am Paul Fairweather I Race In Wentworthville Homing Pigeon Society INC Central Cumberland Pigeon Federation N.S.W I Have Had Pigeons Since I Was Ten Year's Old.
(Pigeon Articles}
Since magnetic waves have a frequency equal to the speed of light , they are probably beyond the pigeon's sensory capabilites. The disturbance created at their points of intersection is far more likely candidate for his perception. If the pigeon keys on to these points of intersection , his erratic flight path noted in the Pittsburgh and Cornell universities and Army studies mentioned above , is explained.
Unlike radio waves the magnetic field creates the gridlike pattern which remains relatively stable. Because the pigeon recognises the continuity of the overall pattern , he is able to find his way home from places he has never been before. Nevertheless , the pattern is not totally immune from interference. Strikingly , the conditions which affect magnetic waves are the same conditions which inhibit a pigeon's homing abilities.
Weather conditions often dictate how high your birds can fly.Generally speaking , conditions are best at lower altitudes , therefore , the lower the magnetic waves are , the more accessible the grid pattern is to the pigeon. Though the overall grid remains stable , varying atmospheric conditions do cause it to undulate. Cloud cover suppresses the grid , but a clear sky allows the grid to rise , thereby making it more difficult for the pigeon to perceive it.
The sun also has a tendency to disrupt magnetic waves. It effects the grid much like a dropped pebble disrupts the smooth surface of a pond. the result is a distorted pattern. That is why pigeons do better on cloudy days than they do on sunny ones.
Bodies or water will also affect magnetic field.Water has an unusual characteristic. Unfortunately ,it absorbs magnetic lines and makes homing difficult. As a result, the pigeons play follow-the-leader hoping to find a pattern from the magnetic lines that they can follow. Now let us take salt water. Lord it really throws them for a dither. When we combine a magnetic line with salt water surface, we all kinds of refractions. The magnetic field jumps around like a cat on a hot tin roof. The grid pattern becomes distorted it throws the pigeon into a state of confusion. So what does the pigeon do? Once he realises he is confuesd , he resorts to memory and beings seeking visually familiar objects he can key on to. The first familiar object he finds is the shore line and he follows it until he finds something better. So why then do we find a lot of birds that will cross into Staten Island and New York successfully? Because a bridge, particularly the ones that contain large quantities of metal, put out enough static electricity to create magnetic field of their own. Wind on any metal or large object, whether it be power lines, sky scrapers etc, will do the same thing. The pigeons simply follow the pattern created by the bridge until they are back to the land mass.
Any large city has numerous sources which create magnetic fields of their own.Though this could assist homing in some cases, such as with the bridge, for the most part , the effect is to create false patterns which confuse the pigeon. In addition, magnetic fields created by static electricity frequently reverse polarity. In a city the size of Baltimore reversals of polarity could occur up to 20 times in one day.
A pigeon has to be good to home in the city.He must have the ability to recognise false and distorted patterns, disregard both, and concentrate on the earth's polarity to find the one true stable pattern he must follow. A good city-trained pigeon will have developed the ability to cope with magnetic distortions and false patterns. If he is relocated to the country , he is going to be even better since there will be less magnetic interference to deal with. But a good homer moved from the country to the city is likely to perfrom below his usual standards untill he learns to adjust to the confusing input. Similarly, you may have wondered why a young pigeon insists on going to someone else 's loft to settle.The reason is he cannot find an acceptable pattern at your loft. He leaves because he cannot adjust to your localised magnetic patterns.
Even for a good city pigeon, some false magnetic fields are extremely difficult to overcome.An example would be the magnetic field created by transmitters. Wherever there is large complex of transmitters in support T.V and radio, a group of pigeons flying into that complex is deep trouble.These
fields are simlpy too powerful for all but the rarest or birds to overcome.
What i have said here is that homing is conducted through two means. Long distances are traversed by pigeon's ability to perceive and interpret magnetic patterns. Since the earth's polarity provides a stable global pattern he has a ready reference point regardless of where he is realeased. Localised magnetic fields can interrupt his focus and mislead him.With experience. a good pigeon will recognise he is being misled and shut off his reliance on the magnetic fields about him.
When the pigeon can no longer rely on magnetic patterns, he must resort to the second means-memory. This is when he is most vulnerable.
If he fails to recognise a familiar landmark, he is lost. Oddly enough this most likely to occur when he is closest to home.
As mentioned before, the pigeon keys in on the intersecting points of the global magnetic grid. These intersecting points are widely dispersed and the blocks they from in the grid cover a huge territory.Once he is inside the block he has been searching for, his magnetic map is not longer useful to him and he is compelled to rely on memory. If he has not been properly orientated to the landmarks within that block, he will find nothing recognises. That is why most pigeons are lost within 25 miles of home.
So if you want you pigeon back, be certain to orient him to the 25 mile area surrounding his loft . beyond that perimeter, he can handle it himself .
