TRAINING OF PIGEONS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 125, 29 May 1942, Page 4

TRAINING OF PIGEONS

USE IX AN EMERGENCY

(0.C.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day,

Of 170 homing pigeons which were released in Moorhouse Avenue, 90 per cent reached Dunedin in good time, in spite of the unfavourable weather, thus convincing those who trained them that carrier pigeons could play an important part in an emergency if communications were interrupted in this country. These pigeons had been sent by rail to Christchurch from Dunedin, and on liberation here seemed to make straight for the south, but after a lapse of about eight minutes they all returned and divided into two packs, one pack flying south and the other flying north. Two minutes later a solitary pigeon returned, flew down, presumably looking for the other birds, thien made for the south. Authorities believe that this was the bird which arrived in Dunedin nine minutes ahead of the next, having flown 1175 yards a minute. The birds were eight to 10 months old and had been tested on flights from Oamaru, Timaru, and Ashburton, back to Dunedin, the flight from Christchurch to Dunedin being the longest test so far asked of them. One of the objects of these flight tests is to keep the birds in training in case of an emergency.