You are browsing the archives of pigeons.

At some point, while I was in graduate school, it became apparent that I was going to study the problem of finding one’s way around. Navigation, orientation, mental maps, sense of direction, knowledge of the landscape, and related ideas must be linked to how people who live off the land survive, and I was studying [...]

The New Zealand Pigeon, often known by its Maori name Kereru, or colloquially as woodpigeon,  is a large and conspicuous part of New Zealand’s avifauna. As pigeons go it is very large, measuring up to 50 cm, and it is one of two species of pigeon endemic to New Zealand. Together with the other, the [...]

Before we went away for a few weeks we only had a Crested Pigeon visit our garden occasionally, but we now have a regular visitor. It comes in early in the day for a drink and returns later in the afternoon. The Bar-shouldered and Peaceful doves are a bit wary of it as it is [...]

Sometimes a bird is better off going it alone.  We know that big birds like waterfowl such as ducks and geese benefit from the flying-V. Waterbirds like pelicans and cormorants make the most of the chevron formation as well. But according to a study published in Nature, flying in a messy flock does birds like [...]

Want contraband in prison?  How about using pigeons?  Prison guards in Brazil noticed pigeons having a difficult time flying: upon investigation, they discovered that the pigeons were carrying cell phones and drugs!  Reuters has the story.