Pigeon Post 

Introduction

Remember pigeon post or if you are from the newer generation and never heard of it then you probably have seen or read harry potter and know about the letter deliveries by the owls. Now in real life why owls cannot deliver a letter is a different topic but pigeons once were trained and used to deliver messages. Pigeons were used to deliver personal messages but during the wartime they had a serious job- deliver messages to military camps.  How were the pigeons able to do that? In this blog I will be sharing about homing pigeons and how they were trained to deliver messages. Even today in the era of internet and fast technology they are still used by some people to deliver messages as the pigeons have not lost their ability to do the job. You can still train them and use them to deliver messages as a hobby. 

Homing Pigeons

Homing pigeons are also known as the domestic pigeons or the messenger pigeons. Before telephone and modern technology messenger pigeons were used to deliver messages. Messenger pigeons were used by the Egyptians as well as some well known historical figures such as Genghis Khan and Tipu Sultan. But how were the pigeons able to do that? Let's dive in. 

Postage Rule For The Pigeons

Pigeons will only travel to a location which they have identified as their home so in order to send the message the sender must use the receiver’s pigeons. 

Training

To train a pigeon, it has to be at least six weeks old. The pigeon has a natural ability to remember landmarks and navigate from one location to another. Just like many other birds, pigeons will naturally return back to their home.

In back days the receiver would keep the pigeon as their pet. They would provide the pigeon food and water. In order to receive training the bird was captured and taken away from its home and then released from the location where it was taken. The pigeon would find its way back home. The messages were written on a small piece of paper and attached with the bird’s legs. The birds have a natural compass and a map in them. Their natural compass would help them to navigate which way they would like to go and their natural map would help them to know where they were and where they would like to be- a place which they call home. Unlike humans the bird has a natural ability to fly long distances without taking any breaks or rest. 

Pigeon's Abilities 

As mentioned earlier the pigeons have not lost their abilities over the time and they can still be used for communication purposes.  The pigeons also have the ability to identify two locations as their home. If you provide food and water at both locations, in order to get the pigeon to deliver the message from one location to the other, you can simply remove the food and water from one location. The bird would then naturally fly to the other location which it identifies as its home to get the food and water. 

Usage Of Pigeon Post In The Modern Time

Pigeons are not out of work even in the era of internet and modern technology. They are mainly trained as hobbies and sports. However there are reports of pigeons smuggling drugs, cell phone and sim cards and USB cords in a Brazilian prison.