What is a Pigeon Post?
The Pigeon Post (or War Pigeons) refers to the use of homing pigeons to carry messages over long distances.
“Post” is derived from their use in the postal service
Similar to other technologies, pigeon posts evolved over time to better serve our needs.
Let us explore these evolutions over the course of our history!
THE ORIGINS
The art of training pigeons for communication is believed to have originated with the ancient Persians at around 550 BCE. Overtime, this practice spread throughout the region, where its initial primary use was for delivering important announcements.
For example, the ancient Greeks (~ 500 BCE) used pigeons to announce the winners of the Olympic Games. This practice was also seen in ancient Rome (500 ~ 300 BCE), where they would announce the winners of the ever-popular chariot races.
It was only when Julius Caesar came into power (~44 BCE) do we first see these homing pigeons being employed for a new purpose.
A Far More Sinister Purpose
The Transition
During the Julius Caesar’s infamous conquest of Gaul, we see the most prominent instance of homing pigeons being used in a military situation. Julius Caesar used pigeons as messengers to the land of Gaul and to share news to the his people in Rome .
Over time, other prominent figures such as Hannibal and Genghis Khan seemed to pick up on the use of pigeons as a military form of communication and began spreading it across the nations. This is particularly the case with Genghis Khan during his many conquests across the world, thus spreading it across Asia and Eastern Europe. As such, the use of pigeons as a form of communication became a standard across the majority of the world.
What I personally find most interesting, is that the development of this technology in these different regions followed a different progression compared to the Greeks and Romans. In essence, the military purpose came first, followed by civilian based uses.
The Weapon
By the mid-1800s, the use of pigeon post as a form of ‘weapon’ had been fully realized. One of the most well-documented uses of pigeons in a wartime setting occurred during the Siege of Paris in 1870, when the besieged French used pigeons to maintain contact with the outside world and seek assistance.
Sending human scouts or messengers was likely to result in death. Consequently, these pigeons became the only means of communication available to the Parisians with their neighboring cities. However, when the Prussians discovered this use of pigeons, they released hawks to hunt them down. Nevertheless, the birds managed to carry messages across enemy lines, and the surviving pigeons were celebrated and awarded the Ordre de la Nation.”
With all that said and done, an important thought came into my mind:
How exactly do pigeons these “work”?
At a first glance, it’s difficult to tell. But, these pigeons have messages attached to their feet.
I believe this design would be most suitable for wartime situations, in order to eliminate any suspicion. (But does it really matter?)
But how are they trained?
The idea is simple: Food Incentives
- You manually take the pigeon to the destination
- Feed the pigeon at the second location
- The pigeon will return home after feeding
- Repeat till migrates on its own
- Time for message?: Remove food from home base
Another important matter to discuss is: What exactly can you deliver with a pigeon?
An important factor to keep in mind is how much information can you realistically include? Pigeons are not large enough to hold large A4 pieces of paper. The papers used at the time were significantly smaller than any piece of paper you would see today. The idea was to use paper where no side was greater than 40mm in length so that it would fit in the quill. Because of how small the paper was, and due to potential capturing other pigeons mid-flight, the French people used a mix of words and numerical ciphers to present their messages.
Official Dispatch by Pigeon during Paris Siege!
As discussed, numeric ciphers were used to both:
- Cut down on the length of the document,
- Act as a deterrent to message interceptions
The Forgotten Kings
In today’s age, the pigeon has taken up a new mantle. Being dubbed the most hated bird in the world in 2017. What was once considered a symbol of technological and communicational innovation, has now been forgotten and despised by all who have not experienced the pigeon in its prime.
This new purpose can be largely attributed to the decline in the use of pigeon post, which has become a rare practice mainly observed in some rural countries for ceremonial purposes. One such country that still utilizes carrier pigeons is India, particularly in the state of Odisha, where they are employed for communication in remote areas.
Unfortunately, the Indian government continues to discourage the use of these practices due to their perceived obsolescence and high cost. Despite this, efforts by the people have been made to preserve this tradition for cultural reasons.
However, there is another, more interesting purpose that these birds may yet posses.
Please Enjoy!
Fun Facts
- Pigeons were heavily used during the two world wars. In the second world war, over 250,000 pigeons were used throughout the world for communication.
- Pigeons can fly at average speeds of up to 77.6 mph, with the highest ever recorded at 92.5 mph.
- Pigeons can fly for around 600 ~ 700 miles per day.
- There are speculations around the possibility that the use of carrier pigeons dates all the way back to ancient Egypt (3000 BCE). Tablets have been found displaying the “training” of pigeons. However, it is not conclusive enough to use as evidence.
- Pigeons, along with many other birds, need to constantly realize their droppings… Pigeons need to go every 15 ~ 20 mins.
- Another particularly interesting use of pigeons during the world wars, was their use for photography. They had cameras hooked up to pigeons that would then take pictures of the land.
References:
Doves and pigeons in history – wysinfo documentaries on the web. WysInfo Docuwebs – Documentaries On The Web. (n.d.). https://wysinfo.com/doves-and-pigeons-in-history/
Fancy pigeons to make you think twice about the world’s most hated bird – a themed collection of images from picfair. Picfair.com. (n.d.). https://www.picfair.com/blog/post/fancy-pigeons-to-make-you-think-twice-about-the-world-s-most-hated-bird?category_url=themed-collections
Hayhurst, J. D. (1970). The Pigeon Post into Paris 1870-1871.
Lal, N. (2023). Winged messengers: How first-class pigeons help police keep Indians safe. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/28/winged-
Lazzari, Z. (2020). How to train a homing pigeon to carry a message. Pets on Mom.com. https://animals.mom.com/train-homing-pigeon-carry-message-10844.html
Using carrier pigeons for communication in Antiquity : History of Information. (n.d.). https://historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3961
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). War pigeon. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Pigeon Post. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_post