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The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica), selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. Because of this skill, homing pigeons were used to carry messages, a practice referred to as " pigeon post ".
Pigeon post is the use of homing pigeons to carry messages. Pigeons are effective as messengers due to their natural homing abilities. The pigeons are transported to a destination in cages, where they are attached with messages, then the pigeon naturally flies back to its home where the recipient could read the message.
This is an alphabetical list of pigeon breeds; these are exclusively breeds of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica). Other Columbidae species (e.g., the Barbary dove , Streptopelia risoria ) have been domesticated and developed into breeds, but these are generally simple colour variations of the plumage .
Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained homing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance.The time it takes the animal to cover the specified distance is measured and the bird's rate of travel is calculated and compared with all of the other pigeons in the race to determine which animal returned at the highest speed.
Cher Ami (French for "dear friend", in the masculine) was a male [a] homing pigeon known for his military service during World War I, especially the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918. He is famous for delivering a message alerting American forces to the location of the Lost Battalion , despite sustaining severe injuries. [ 2 ]
A war pigeon at Signal Pigeon Center Tidworth (UK), United States Army Pigeon Service. The United States Army Pigeon Service (a.k.a. Signal Pigeon Corps) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I and World War II. Their assignment was the training and usage of homing pigeons for communication and reconnaissance purposes. [1]
Utility pigeons are domesticated pigeons bred to be a source of meat called squab. Squabs have been used as a food in many nations for centuries. [1] They were bred to breed and grow quickly. [2] Because they are bred for squab production, conformation to a show standard is usually deemed unimportant.
The American Show Racer pigeon (also known as the Show Pen Racer, and nicknamed the "Bird of Dignity.") [1] is a breed of domestic pigeon that began in the early 1950s with the finest Racing Homers, selectively bred for their breed type. [clarification needed] Pigeon historian Wendell Levi mentions Show Pen Racers in his book The Pigeon. [2]