How Pigeons Always Find Their Way Home

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Patreon: / realscience
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Credits:
Narrator: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault
Editor: Dylan Hennessy (www.behance.ne...)
Illustrator/Animator: Kirtan Patel (kpatart.com/il...)
Illustrator: Elfy Chiang (www.elfylandst...)
Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraph...)
Sound: Graham Haerther (haerther.net)
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster ( / forgottentowel )
Producer: Brian McManus ( / realengineering )
Joke Suggester: Katie Sammann
Imagery courtesy of Getty Images
References:
[1] www.cia.gov/re...
[2] journals.biolo...
[3] www.rpra.org/w...
[4] en.wikipedia.o...
[5] cvhf.org.uk/hi...
[6] www.historic-u...
[7] www.pnas.org/d...
[8] www.jstor.org/...
[9] www.nature.com...
[10] journals.biolo...
[11] www.nature.com...
[12] journals.biolo...

[@gelgamath_9903]

Ah yes the BIRD or "Biological Intelligence Reconnaissance Device" is one of the most powerful tools in any spy tool kit

[@christensolomon3679]

A solid chuckle. Enjoy the like.

[@rufioh]

Biomimicry Intelligence Reconnaissance Drones - BIRD We all know birds aren’t biological, they’re drones

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@rufioh The word you are looking for is biomimetic then.

[@gabor6259]

Biological Information Retriever Bird - BIRB *(Kurzgesagt intensifies)*

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@gabor6259 No matter how little you know a language, you do not include the acronym in the acronym.

[@hobbyhermit66]

My dad and uncle had homing pigeons when I was a kid growing up in Ohio. We'd take 2 or 3 to West Virginia when we went to see my grandparents. Dad would turn them loose as we were saying our goodbyes to come back home. Took us 4 hours to drive it, but they'd be home when we got there. It was pretty kool. There have been lots of people that have sold the same birds several times, because the people who bought them turned them loose after a month or so. They always return to where they were hatched.

[@mantha6912]

sounds like an excellent way to scam people XD

[@jenniferroberts8370]

@@mantha6912actually this has been around for a very long time and is more real than any phone call you make Smdh

[@mustiyavuz]

Yes when I was a kid we had exactly you discrabed, the guy got tired of coming to get the bird back and after a while the bird didnt come anymore when we saw the guy asked it hasnt come back for a long time why? He said a cat ate it 😂

[@Elizabeth-n7z9l]

Not everyone likes pigeons. Some people hate them. Some people even torture them, e.g., by pulling out their feathers and tails or cutting off their toes and etc., etc. Me and my wife have been feeding corn seeds to some 50 wild pigeons 3 times a day for 6 years. Yes, breakfast, lunch and dinner. They naturally fight among themselves a lot. But they do love us and we love them . We feed them and treat them as much as we can when they come and tell us that they are not well. They can understand some short words. Some of them even speak to us by moving they tiny beaks. They are lovely creatures who love and largely depend on human beings. If you don't like them, that's fine. But don't hate them and hurt them for nothing. They surely will suffer a lot. May your god bless you.

[@ValeDelRey1507]

You and your wife are good people ❤

[@ladyluna15]

Have you had any complaints from neighbors? I've been feeding my local flock for about 2 years, and they're nearly 40.. I only feed them once or twice a day and neighbors have started to notice and have started to complain😞💔

[@Elizabeth-n7z9l]

@@ladyluna15 Just ignore them. Better don't let them see when you are feeding your loved ones.

[@Elizabeth-n7z9l]

@@ValeDelRey1507 Thank you very much. Much appreciated for your kind words. May your god bless you.

[@23cherdew]

I hate people. Why be so cruel?

[@pwolfamv]

So, you're basically telling me that birds *are* real and they (the birds) *are* spying on us?! Great video!

[@neilhibbard519]

Birds aren't real. Don't believe the lies

[@goldog2816]

Ha I was laughing thinking about that too,, but that just QAnon 101,, A little bit of truth mixed in with a whole bunch of outright lies 😁

[@Musicalmane]

These were just the first models they originally wanted to outfit them with cybernetics but that didnt work, the final real bird died in 2001

[@gopnikstyle9148]

@@Musicalmane you need to seek mental health if you believe birds aren't real.

[@gopnikstyle9148]

@@Musicalmane so robot birds poop?

[@tk45440]

My dad bought a couple pigeons to train one of his hunting dogs, and didn't 'use' them all. The remaining one was let loose and hung around the house. I gained its trust after a while by feeding it daily....One day i took it about 5 -10 miles away in a box and let it go, thinking it would just live in the new spot... It was waiting on the roof when i got back home myself.

[@Pigeon.kabotar]

😍😍

[@timothytumusiime2903]

Hey bro??? What took you so long😂 It's almost time for supper 😏

[@sunnyy1322]

Hi, was it a regular rock pigeon? Or was it racing pigeons? Thank you

[@mcanqb]

@@timothytumusiime2903you first, trash

[@mirkkasalo5868]

I am against hunting pidgeons, in my homecountry they still nest when hunting starts :( and anyway I don't want them to be killed.

[@daniell1483]

I recently saw a video analyzing the probable vocalizations of dinosaurs, and the studies showed that dinosaurs preferred using the low-energy infrasound waves that birds today still use. I think it is amazing that this ability to hear infrasound has lasted so many millions of years in birds (the dinosaur's descendants).

[@JesusMartinez-rr2ry]

I feel glad whenever pigeons are being appreciated and not being called "rats with wings" or worse, "not real."

[@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache]

They are real! Really designed by 1960's scientist space nazis who are using them to spy on Antarctica and see if anyone's about to fall off of the edge of the donut shaped earth and into the cheese side of the moon.

[@heidithesausage]

me too ☺

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

Real Science is close to one million subscribers folks. This KZbin channel has done so well since it's inception in early October 2019. I still remember their first video "The Truth About GMOs".

[@janmelantu7490]

Remember folks, bird watching goes both ways

[@realscience]

Lol

[@JamesBond-si7xs]

Haha, love it. The documentary is good, however !

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

Oh shit 😂

[@gem3506]

Ha 😅

[@connection7405]

Not every pigeon has this abillity, homing pigeons are unique sub-spicies. You can recognize them by having larger "noses" (the white thing above the beak). My dad had those when I was a kid. The problem was that they keep multiplying and non of them gets lost, so they run out of place quickly. So now he has a different kind of pigeons

[@TaLeng2023]

Comments in some vids mentioned getting rid of the eggs (throw or eat) and replace them with fakes.

[@acooper6956]

The "white thing" is the cere. It indicates age, nothing else.

[@jimmyroman9239]

I have 30 pigeons I love each and every one of them and babies coming pigeons are the best and for so many reasons therapeutic the intelligent and they're just beautiful

[@doctorsloth213]

After I broke up with my wife, I had to get rid of my pigeons. I miss them nearly as much as my ex- wife.

[@westynufc90]

​@@doctorsloth213fucking hell mate she didn't take em did she?

[@doctorsloth213]

@westynufc90 I gave them away, a few went back to her house. She wasn't feeding them and they eventually left for good.

[@danielscuiry2847]

This by far THE BEST pigeon film I’ve ever seen. 🙏

[@markharris2912]

Yeah pigeons are cool, but this video sucks. They never do answer the question; 'How do pigeons always find their way home?". The idea that sound and smell are used to navigate long distances is patently ridiculous and has never been demonstrated. Furthermore, the cutting of the pigeon's brains shows an astonishing lack of intelligence on the part of the 'science researchers'. And still no one knows how the pigeons navigate. "Real Science" needs to turn in their merit badge.

[@gaufrid1956]

I have a deep appreciation of the common pigeon, or "lovey dovey" as my wife and I call them here in Cagayan de Oro City Mindanao. I have watched the behavior of a particular mated pair here (one of them being albino) and how they cared for their offspring. Wherever they may roam, they always return to the area close to our house. The albino dove used to sit on an aerial at the rear of our house, before finding a mate. I think it had lost its previous mate. However, it found another mate and there have been a number of new generations over the five years I have been here.

[@CaesiusX]

12:58 _"Pigeons, despite their derpiness, have been credited with saving hundreds of lives."_ *_"Derpiness?"_* 🤭😄

[@zyansheep]

Derp

[@sergioortiz8219]

I think she said "dirtyness"

[@CaesiusX]

@@sergioortiz8219 It's most assuredly, _derpiness._ I believe a number of videos have a transcript you can check under the Description.

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

🤣

[@heidithesausage]

Now I know what that means I'm offended on their behalf. LOL

[@sapelesteve]

Very interesting video. All migratory birds have the same abilities. What about insects like Monarch Butterflies that migrate from Canada to the region in Mexico where their parents began life. They do this without ever having been to that location in Mexico before! Pretty amazing! 👍👍🦋🦋

[@whyjerrywhy]

i think these kind of animals and insects have a sense were not aware of.

[@coconuts7960]

@@whyjerrywhy we are aware of it we just don’t have it the 5 senses are not the only senses we have and definitely not the only ones animals can have most these migratory animals like butterfly’s and salmon use the magnetic fields of the earth to orient themselves

[@kellydalstok8900]

If you want to tie a camera to a butterfly it would have to be a very small one.

[@antsromania469]

Pigeons aren't migratory.

[@dedykurniawansantoso5279]

Oh nooo.. not mexico

[@HighMojo]

After being rendering service to mankind for centuries, pigeons have been abandoned to fend for themselves. In many cities, they don't have food or drink, they are left to fight for scraps and rely on the kindness of strangers to send them some seed once in a while. It would have been better to make some public fountains so pigeons have water to drink and plant some fruit trees so pigeons and other wild birds have something to eat instead of paving every inch of earth with concrete.

[@MrPottsTeaching]

They do tha Same things to Military vets. Lmao hahah ;D some how they find their way home after being moved Thousand of miles away lmao hahah ;D Just to fend for themselves on tha streets looking dirty lmao hahah ;D.

[@Nx2.1]

All the things humans use to navigate birds have pre-installed. Incidently, Nicole Tesla was deeply in love with a pigeon and some people thinks that's weird?

[@spit_soup]

depends on the kind of love

[@yvainestelmack7196]

I thought it was cats.

[@Nx2.1]

@@yvainestelmack7196 Usually is.

[@ferafera20]

When someone says you're smart as a pigeon, take it as a compliment 😎

[@Leanzazzy]

4:40 They deserve medals for being good boys 🕊️

[@unbeatabel]

My family moved house and this one typical dark coloured pigeon decided it's their home too, they always come back for food or hang around the front yard, they love walking around the place like a little security guy (until a stray cat decided to jumpscare him of course), now he's got 2 more friends over and they're all brown-white colours, so pretty. So we've got 3 pigeons who would walk into the house until they get their food now🤣 they're cute ngl, though I can't really get close or pet them

[@chrzanik666]

I got into a strange argument with a Westminster council worker recently when eating croissant outside on of lockal food establishment, he wanted to fine me because I decided to give crumbs to pigeons. In his words its vermin and they shit everywhere, I couldn't hold back laughter and calmly explained that those species fought the war, they want to eat just as he does and we share same planet with many species and biggest shit we make its our own and we conveniently flush it down the oceans.. as you can imagine he boiled and was fuming and possibly I took things little to far when in the heat of an argument I stated large shit sits right between his ears.. when finally he managed to get around it.. I left. Live and let live.

[@GodisMyNo1]

Excellent answer. And bravo for standing up for our little feathered fellas. Love pigeons

[@CrescentUmbreon]

Where's my boy Cher Ami??? That pidgion was another who saved the lives of many troops, but at the time he was needed the enemy was trained to shoot down birds. The poor pidgeon was hit but somehow managed to push through it and flew home bleeding and with one leg dangling by a thread. He lived and recieved a medal of honor

[@FelineTomfoolery69]

Her name was Cher Ami

[@CrescentUmbreon]

@@FelineTomfoolery69 My bad, my memory screwed that one up

[@bostonluyasar7045]

never underestimate a pigeon

[@Ze_Moose]

Tell that to George Costanza

[@lauraisagemini]

sounds vaguely threatening, thank you

[@jonathanblack6728]

Another interesting use of pigeons was proposed by psychologist B.F. Skinner, who taught pigeons to help aim bombs from within them. The program, meant for use in WWII, was never actually used in combat, thankfully for the pigeons

[@telosevntwlve]

When i used to raise pigeons as a kid in Haiti, id buy from a seller who lived less than 5 minutes from me and my pigeons never went back to her. There are ways to make pigeons stay at their new home. My favorite bird ever.

[@shinigamiryuku2869]

Severing brain nerves to understand how a pigeon senses direction is to cruel for my liking, if that is what is needed I wish we would live with the mystery.

[@heidithesausage]

Agree, pigeons really have been used & abused by humans.

[@jenniferroberts8370]

I am sorry what??? And you don’t think due to radiation they arnt being killed smdh this is bs and bullshit When everything goes down you’ll be wishing you know of this technology period smdh

[@peachtea4369]

It is cool that pigeons can navigate so well! But please, do not get a pigeon and expect them to be able to do this. So many pigeons are eaten or injured by hawks or cars in events like pigeon races, where they are expected to find their way back home. Pigeons deserve safety and safe homes (they are domestic birds!)

[@mr.randomgamer888]

Forget hawks or cars, am straight up eating them myself 😂

[@5thElement0560]

No species deserves anything, but do what? Most people have no need for a smart navigating pigeon, maybe because they're cute as pets for humans, but people aren't letting them fly away. Pigeon coups are common with outside sheds where people feed them for relaxation. Most would be sad to let their pigeons go.

[@5thElement0560]

​@@mr.randomgamer888 You eat pigeon?

[@mr.randomgamer888]

@@5thElement0560 yeah they're sweet and delicious, it's a delicacy here in Egypt

[@Cyanide_and_Loneliness]

@@5thElement0560 People have have been eating pigeons for a very, very long time

[@leahcotton5315]

Wow I will never look at a pigeon the same. Impressive!

[@gracie99999]

so y’all stated pigeons snitch!!?

[@CausticLemons7]

For some reason this topic really grabbed my interest. Excited to watch!

[@Khichira2012]

Okay, pigeons are great. I no longer think of them as derpy birds but true navigators and extremely useful!

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

Lol! my local pigeons sit on my bedroom windowsill and I felt sorry for them so put out bird feeders. Now they peck the windows and are always spying on me to see if I am getting ready to feed them. Used to be just a couple of crows and some little birds, now I have about 10 regular pigeons, 3 wood pigeons, Trick and Pook the crows and a really bold squirrel....they all crane their necks to get my attention...in fact the squirrel would be right inside given half a chance. Oh I also have 3 regular foxes and a couple of stray cats too!

[@GodisMyNo1]

Lucky you. I love pidgeys

[@Gangstadude77]

"Despite some commonly held beliefs, pigeons are in fact real" 😂

[@user-vg7zv5us5r]

Who would've doubt that? XD

[@stan110]

@@user-vg7zv5us5r r/BirdsArentReal (Its a joke subreddit)

[@HENCHMARV]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@zappedguy1327]

Pretty amazing birds.Same as Albatrosses flying from on hemisphere to the other.Thanks for the vid.

[@theowl2044]

Pigeon: navigates entire countries during wartime carrying vital intelligence Human: gets lost finding own car after shopping

[@ugurakpinar904]

After having rescued pigeon as a pet, i can definitely say pigeons are the one of the most intelligent animals

[@99672]

I think it should be pointed out that not all the birds return home. In WW2 downed aircraft would release more than one bird with the same message of their location.

[@Rapidly_]

Cher Ami was much more impressive than G.I. Joe. Cher Ami delivered a message from an encircled battalion despite having been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had a leg hanging only by a tendon. He was the best pigeon.

[@N1njaSnake]

Loved the video, production values are through the roof

[@rihadalif1670]

me an asian who had pigeons as pet and where its pretty common of people having a lot of pigeons at their rooftop (some even have 100 at the same time) hearing them being called urban nuisance !!

[@screwedagain1]

Same here. I flew English Tipplers for years. Great hobby.

[@begimaizhumgalbekova6152]

Now I get why in Spies in Disguise Sterling was a pigeon

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

Pigeons: Nature's homeless veterans

[@GGiblet]

Pigeons are magic. I'm satisfied with that💕

[@asheshpathak5260]

I just discovered this channel and this discovery has been the best. Keep spreading the knowledge. Respect from Nepal 🇳🇵

[@imogen1]

Imagine being the American intel officer who sees the brass walk in with a medal only to see it go to the bird.

[@loco_chicken]

Some of these experiments seem to be ethically ambiguous

[@travisbicklejr]

Insane biology of the hummingbird would be amazing!

[@decasinolo126]

So it is sound what tells them where to go. It makes sense, it reminded me of owls, their super hearing is what makes them so good at flying at night. 🐦

[@valprem6401]

I just love pigeons. Threy are THE BEST

[@VinnyUnion]

By being adorable, that's how they manage

[@UniteFoundation1]

I love pigeons. I've always loved them. When is a windy day and to see them fly and enjoy the currents it's great. One day I was in the highway doing a good 65 in the pidgeot was right next to me keeping it moving just like me man it was so cool

[@morkovija]

Top shelf quality content once again!Thank you

[@Behold-the-Florist]

These poor creatures have been through a lot. It's not easy to hear about some of the things we've done to them. I hope we come to treat them better in the future.

[@anitacoogan4822]

Can see how folks would ignore pigeons as we tend to look down on them as very common in the city of Newark). I only saw a wedding pigeon that was not use to the city, hit the glass window and was injured. A friend & I rescue songbirds . A recent youtube video shows us in Newark NJ, the video is named ( Volunteers give migrating birds injured in N.J’s biggest city a second chance )' Also TRT made a older video when we first started named ( Window Strikes in the Business District ) of us picking up injured Warblers.

[@joelover2631]

Different cities and places does sound different. We subconsciously store the memory of the sound. I can only imagine How it would be to fly above and hear what it sounds in the distance. Maybe it's just me.

[@edouard1580]

I had to check the date twice to make sure this wasn't 1st April

[@TheAgentTexas]

I don't know, I'm still not convinced that pigeons are real. I still have never seen a baby pigeon or a dead pigeon. So checkmate :D But for real though this gives me a lot more respect for pigeons.

[@d.e.b.b5788]

Baby birds grow to adult size in only a few weeks, so by the time they leave the nest, they look like adults (my lovebirds appear adult size in two weeks). Dead pigeons get eaten by other birds and animals, that's why you don't usually see dead ones.

[@TheAgentTexas]

@@d.e.b.b5788 Or its because they are manufactured and are never actually babies. And when they reach their life span they fly back to the pentagon to be recycled. Ever wonder why the pentagon looks the way it does? Its because it's a giant bird nest :D *just kiddin around btw

[@gracie99999]

legions of pigeons

[@tjsyam921]

Your videos are truly top tier on this platform! Bravo!! 👏👏

[@Veptis]

I visited a spy museum in Berlin years ago. And their guided you through the history of espionage. And it also begun with pigeons.

[@BBBrasil]

Funny how we humans can understand only cartesian relations. For every Y there's only one X. We really need computers to aggregate and correlate pigeons different senses. Even small performance on one aspect can be enhanced by others in the overall mesmerizing homing results.

[@davidegaruti2582]

I mean we can aggregate much more than 2 values , We can associate colours,shapes,smells,tastes and tactile feelings , simple example : your favourite food

[@davidegaruti2582]

Matematician s do that because it can be easily graphed on paper and because you can get a surprising amount of milage from 2 dimensions

[@BBBrasil]

@@davidegaruti2582 I agree! But we still need computation power to aggregate other data points.

[@BBBrasil]

@@davidegaruti2582 But we can't take much quantitative and qualitative information from what defines my favourite food: How much I like it, or what could change in my favorite food and I still love it? I remember a database project where the student produced a n-axis graph, the client had some 50 data points and the program could easily view 4 of them in a 3D field. It was a little dumb bcs the program could be tweaked to search for optimization using much more, but the client wanted to visualize the results.

[@hashslingingslabber859]

The frosted glasses test is kind of fucked up lol Imagine the pigeon couldn’t make it back. Then it would just be stuck in nature partially blinding them

[@heidithesausage]

They really have put poor pigeons through hell in the name of "Science" Huge respect for these great birds.

[@driesketels805]

Thank you, great content. Happy to find a channel that surprises me and i’m learning something new

[@ferydounfareed6930]

Great programme . Thank you for the good work.

[@Scarlet_Soul]

Picture perfect pigeons

[@سعودالشمري-ر6ق]

هارون الرشيد هو اول من اكتشف الحمام الزاجل واهميته بنقل الرسائل من مكان لاخر في العهد العباسي

[@voodoochile7581]

I love her soothing voice.

[@sbomorse]

This was genuinely fascinating!

[@Trag-zj2yo]

I find their abilities amazing yet never thought to torture some to find out why.

[@cau1471]

My grandfather, who died when my brother was 2 and before I was born, apparently had a LOT of homing pigeons, whom he doted on. My dad didn't have a great relationship with him (though he was great with the birds, he was not that great of a father in terms of leaving and then just kinda forgetting about them, but I digress) so I only know this because my mom met him a few times, the last of which was to introduce him to his first grandson lol

[@jfdc8402]

After the flood Noah released a bird to check surroundings . Indeed birds are underrated supernatural creatures!

[@Overthought7]

Thank you for (indirectly) teaching me the difference between passenger pigeons & messenger pigeons! I've apparently been mixing those 2 up for decades!

[@guyjohnson3775]

Thanks great job on this video 👍🏻👍🏻

[@joyknowles2508]

I can understand how these pigeons found their way back home, but how did they know who and where to fly too?😳

[@Kekoapono]

One of the reasons why some people believe that pigeons aren't real is because you never see young pigeon chicks. Thanks to this video I now know why people don't see pigeon chicks alongside the adults. It makes sense that chicks are kept in the nest, as that's the case with quite a lot of birds.

[@GOOD_FARMER]

So basically pigeons have their built-in GPS, wow 😃

[@gracie99999]

supposedly unless bill gates had some due witit

[@chicovicente2845]

And people still believe birds are real 🤦‍♂️

[@wildlifesuport]

And people belive all they see on internet 🤦‍♂️

[@tompoynton]

I know right 😂

[@Moto_Medics]

r/woosh

[@sethjansson5652]

@@wildlifesuport So you're meaning to say that espionage pigeons aren't real?

[@piedpiper1172]

SMH my head these SHEEPLE continue to believe in the lies of Operation Big Bird. I’m just like, “dinosaurs went extinct sweetie, birds aren’t real.”

[@SMASH_REVIEWS]

Hats Off to your Effort !

[@jamesfry8983]

You killed and ate speckled Jim, I had him since he was an egg dawn firing squad for you, anyone who gets the reference is epic

[@kellydalstok8900]

Blackadder?

[@jamesfry8983]

@@kellydalstok8900 Excellent got to love good ol Blackadder

[@lilschnowyguy]

The lil pigeon with his medal, he so proud of himself

[@ImperialStoneDragon]

he is probably choking...

[@Promis_QS_Panda]

I love this channel so much.

[@the-human-being]

Great video, as usual.

[@LBG-cf8gu]

No pigeons were harmed making this docu...

[@epicstudio7185]

0_0

[@LouseGrouse]

I love these brilliant silly birds so much

[@ddd.777-]

Mad props for G.I Joe for his service, they actually even did moovies about him, or at least his name

[@Phoe]

2:28 Up until this point I thought pigeons aren't real

[@mrthunderwar4819]

I have an injured pigeon rightnow made me come across this video . This was great to know

[@ejoshcoron]

This channel is all bangers 🤘🏼

[@jeremysmith7176]

I'm sure the pigeons appreciated this more than the pigeon bomb.

[@ConsultingHumor]

The front facing photo is so menacing

[@InsaneCitizenErased]

gosh the included ads are always so seamless

[@GroovyVideo2]

well done -Thanks

[@toomanyspreedsheets9802]

I love that the birb was called GIJoe, thats amazing

[@3Speedboy]

"Pigeons are in fact real" ok CIA

[@lordwolfgangjosephuskaiser6778]

The greatest Channel ever. I love it so much, thank you very much 🌹. Everything in those videos is amazing: The explanation, the biology facts, the pictures, the video, the music 🎶 just everything is amazing.

[@milkoln1057]

Fun fictional (unlikely real) story, in 945 Igor the Old (the ruler of Kievian Rus') was killed by the tribe called drevlians. After several fights with them, his wife, Olga, said the drevlians that she won't continue her revenge if they send her pegeons from every house, which they did. Olga instructed her army to attach aflamed pieces of cloth with sulphur to each bird, and so the pegeons returned home, setting fire in every single house of drevlians.

[@Imperiused]

Well, I wouldn't say "fun fact." That is indeed the story that comes down to us, but the Primary Chronicle that we get the story of Olga from comes from was essentially a piece of propaganda written a few hundred years after the fact. So the stories we know of her are likely fictional - or at least heavily embellished. She definitely existed though, we do have multiple references to her from several different sources.

[@milkoln1057]

@@Imperiused thanks for correcting me! I really didn't know that Primary Chronicle isn't a reliable resource

[@Menachem59]

You see divinity in His creation. Fascinating.

[@AngelMachariel]

They recharge on power lines! If it flies it spies!

[@JamesBond-si7xs]

Lol, exactly 😂

[@JamesBond-si7xs]

BAR

[@LutraLovegood]

How does that work in places that don't have powerlines, ie European cities?

[@23cherdew]

I have had a tagged white pigeon hanging in my yard for several weeks. Whenever I try to get close enough to read its tag, it flys away. I am feeding it daily and slowly gaining its trust. IF they can always find their way home, why is he here? I struggle with putting him/her back into captivity if it is here by choice. It flies well and does not appear hurt in any way.

[@treborsirrah7916]

6 minutes in and still not explained how they navigate their way home

[@fazsyard]

no one real knows

[@listerjne]

WOW!!!! amazing vid as always i LOVE ur work