homing pigeon

(also ‘racing pigeon‘) a kind of bird – a domesticated pigeon (mostly the ‘rock pigeon’ species) used in pigeon races

Special Features:

These pigeons have the amazing ability to find their way back home, even over great distances – distance up to 1800 Km.

homing pigeons in a race

The homing pigeons have been used in pigeon racing, a popular sport in some parts of the world. Apart from the racing, the homing pigeons have been used to carry messages.

carrying a message

They can carry a small message, written on a small piece of paper and tied to their legs, back to their original ‘home’.  This kind of ‘postal service’ is called ‘pigeon post’, and the birds used as ‘postman’ are called ‘carrier pigeons’!  It is very interesting to know that the police department in the remote parts of Assam, India, used the ‘pigeon postal service’ as recently as 2002!!

soldiers using homing pigeons

They were extensively used in World War I to carry important or secret message from one military post to another! And there have been other occasions where these homing pigeons have been used to send messages.  Several homing pigeons were given medals for their brave services in carrying messages in World War II!  They have been mentioned in stories, real and fiction, for their ability to carry ‘love messages’, too!! Unfortunately, these innocent sincere ‘couriers’ have been used for smuggling drugs into prisons!!

Figures of Speech:

(he) couldn’t lead a flock of homing pigeons [said of someone implying that he could not even lead homing pigeons back to their homes, which hardly need any leader to guide them home]

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