07/08/2026
Ever since I met Rod, I was fascinated about his beloved pigeons. How do they know how to come home? Which way would they fly? Do they stop off anywhere?
Questions that I thought could not be answered. We still dont know for sure how they know where home is. Experts are inclined to presume its the earth's magnetic field. Rods answer is far more simple "because they love us, and they love their home" (old romantic!😊)
GPS trackers have been around for some time. But Rod has been against these due to the albeit light, but sudden increased weight. Racing pigeons these days have ETS rings put on them before a race. This sort of dispelled his argument. But, to help persuade him further, we got spare ETS rings and put them on some of our babies before they could fly. So, swapping for a GPS tag, wouldn't make a difference.
The software for these tags up to now has been very basic. It would show you the time you released a bird, and would show you it was home. However a local pigeon flyer is developing more advanced software to enable a live tracking route.
We got a couple of trackers, and yesterday, I released our Harold with a tag on.
I was so excited to see the results, but then disappointed all it showed was my driving route 🥺
But, a quick call to Neil who is developing this software, and the home route appeared!
Our birds often circle to get height and route focus before flying off. To our eyes on the ground, they are just circling.
The map of the route our Harold took yesterday showed a lot of going back and fourth before heading straight home! Once home, he circled the loft a few times before landing.
We hope to be able to show you a live flight in the near future!
Over the years, we’ve often been asked questions such as, “Do they really come home?”
Most people ask out of genuine curiosity and are happy to hear about our experience.
As with any subject, however, there are always some who either believe they know better or judge a pigeon’s abilities, its fitness, determination, awareness of its surroundings, and homing instinct, by human standards...they think of their own abilities, and form opinions (projecting) on this.
It’s important to remember that animals do not experience the world in the same way that we do. Their behaviour is shaped by instinct, learning, experience, and motivation. In the case of racing pigeons, and our Rock Doves, generations of breeding have strengthened their natural homing ability, and their remarkable capacity to navigate over long distances has been well documented.
We know that animals can form strong bonds, recognise familiar people and places, and experience pain, stress, and comfort.
What we still do not fully understand is exactly how they think or what they experience subjectively. Because of that, it is wiser to respect their abilities rather than assume they are limited by human expectations.
For those of us who work with Rock Doves/homing/racing pigeons, the evidence is not based on wishful thinking, it is based on years of observing birds repeatedly return home, often from considerable distances and under challenging conditions. Their ability to do so continues to inspire both admiration and curiosity.
By showing below, that they do home, we hope this fact based evidence helps people see what these remarkable creatures can do!
