Fascinating
birds
By
Nutan Shukla
PIGEONS have a very acute sense of
hearing and can detect very weak infrasonic sounds (very
low frequency rumbling sounds) down to less than 1 Hertz
(Hz). While an average human can hear sounds between 20
Hz and 20,000 Hz, we are specially sensitive to sounds at
around 2,000 Hz. In other words, pigeons hearing
enables them to detect vibrations from meteorological
disturbances or movements in the earths crust
thousands of miles away. This quality may be used in
navigation.
Homing pigeons are
fascinating birds. They are known for performing
remarkable feats of endurance. One such example, which
perhaps is the most outstanding one, was the first Duke
of Wellingtons homing pigeon, which is said to have
flown a direct route of 8,700 km, but the fact is that it
flew about 11,255 km to avoid the Sahara Desert. This
bird was released on April 8, 1845, from a sailing ship
of the Ichabo Islands, West Africa, and dropped dead 55
days later on June 1 only a mile from its loft at
Nine Elms, Wandsworth, London. There are other instances
also. A homing pigeon flew 1,887 km in 15 days into
Britain, while others have journeyed over 1,600 km on
four occasions.
During World War II the
British Army had on its muster-roll more than 200,000
homing pigeons for sending messages. The Police
Depart-ment of Orissa still has about 800 birds which are
used to run the departments unique pigeon service
which is over half-a-century old. This service came into
operation in 1946 when the Orissa police, due to lack of
communication facilities, purchased a few trained
carriers from the Army at the end of World War II. The
service won accolades from Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru who, on a visit to inaugurate the Hirakund dam in
1948, found the service quite useful.
Before proceeding to the
dam site, Nehru sent a message on April 13, 1948, to the
state that "the arrangements for the public meeting
should not be such as to separate the speaker too much
from the audience". The message reached Cuttack in
less than five-and-a half hours. It, however, took Nehru
six hours to reach the city. He was surprised when told
that his message brought by a pigeon had reached before
he reached the city.
In the past five decades,
these pigeons have proved invaluable, especially during
floods and cyclones. In the 1982 floods in Banki, these
birds were the only mode of communication after the
wireless service was disrupted.
The word
homing means return by an animal to a
particular site that is used for breeding or sleeping.
The term may apply to the return of an animal to its nest
after foraging, or to a seasonal migration between
breeding and feeding grounds.
There are 36 species of
Imperial pigeons which are found in South Asia, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and some Pacific Ocean
islands. Classified under genus Ducula, these birds feed
on fruits and leaves and nest in trees.
One species of this bird
can stretch the base of its bill so much that it can
gorge on whole nutmeg fruit of 5.5 cm diameter, in other
words larger than its own head.
Fruit pigeons usually do
not regurgitate large stones, like most birds do, after
eating fruits. Instead, they are capable of passing seeds
of 3 cm diameter through their intestines.
As has been already said
above that pigeons have numerous varieties. Among these
pink pigeon is the rarest. It is estimated that there are
less than 20 pink pigeons today. In 1950s there were
about 55. The reason for the decline in their numbers are
many. Habitat destruction and high predation on their
eggs are the main reasons which have put this bird on the
list of highly endangered species.
Another group of pigeons
is that of racing pigeons which are known for their
astonishing flight speed. The highest race speed recorded
of a racing pigeon was 117.14 km/h (on average). This
feat was performed by a bird in the East Anglian
Federation race from East Croydon on May 8, 1965. This
speed was possible due to the favourable winds. Experts
feel that in level flight and in calm conditions even the
champion bird cannot cross the speed of 95 km/h or so.
Even if this is correct, it is not a small thing.
Fanciers have special
attraction for racing pigeons. For this reason the
highest price ever paid for any bird was £ 41,000 for a
racing pigeon named Peter Pau in 1986. The amount paid
was equal to 10 times its weight in gold. The buyer was
Louis Massarella, of Leicestershire, England, who owns
the biggest racing pigeon complex in the world. This bird
could fly distances of over 620 miles, reaching the
average speed of about 80 km/h. It was purchased for the
purpose of breeding. The previous record price for racing
pigeon was £ 25,000 paid by a Taiwanese fancier.
Racing pigeons are one of
the most numerous birds in the world which are used for
sporting purpose like racing. According to an estimate,
about 1.20 crore (12 million) birds are registered
worldwide every year and a world population is estimated
at 5 to 5.5 crores (50 to 55 million). In the late 1980s
the International Pigeon Racing Federation had about
650,000 affiliated members with an average of 40 birds
per loft, giving a total of 2.60 crore (26 million)
birds, which is possibly half of the total world
population.
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