Saturday, July 23, 2011

Homing Pigeons Are Uniquely Equipped

Homing pigeons can find their way home from more than 300 miles away and at speeds of 60 miles per hour, said Mindy Rosewitz, curator at the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Museum in Fort Monmouth, N.J., which closed to the public May 30. Magnetic fluid behind their ears and noses guides the birds based on the magnetic poles. Sometimes storms will throw them off track, or radio waves in cable towers confuse their sense of direction. But generally, the pigeons find their way home. 

More at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/rockville-man-raises-races-carrier-pigeons/2011/07/12/gIQAvbaGEI_story.html

Alison Bryant in the July 12, 2011 Washington Post

Following the 1918 Armistice, the U.S. Army Signal Corps imported pigeons that had been trained by those European armies and made them part of the U.S. War Department's communications capabilities at Camp Crowder along with radio, telephone, and teletype.

More at: https://ozarksalive.com/pigeons-were-important-part-of-wwii-efforts-at-camp-crowder/

Mike O’Brien , Guest contributor, 7/29/2019 Ozarks Alive