00:00When you think about all the animals mankind has trained over the eons, it seems hard to
00:06believe that the lowly pigeon was once used for communication. After all, these are the
00:13same filthy avians that shamelessly leave their droppings on your windshield. But despite their
00:21stigma of being dirty, useless birds, pigeons have, in fact, made a great contribution to humanity.
00:29Throughout history, they have been utilised to deliver important messages. Such is the legacy
00:36of the glorious carrier pigeon. The practice of domesticating pigeons goes all the way back to
00:43ancient Egypt, where bird keepers would build pigeon towers and train the pigeons to recognise
00:50the towers as their home. However, one of the earliest recorded instances of pigeons transmitting
00:57messages dates back to circa 700 BC, when pigeons were used by the Greeks to deliver the results of,
01:05wait for it, yes, the Olympic Games. From then on, carrier pigeons actually held a high status in
01:13society. Everyone from the Romans to Genghis Khan used pigeons as a form of communication. In fact,
01:22under the rule of the famed King Charlemagne, only the nobility were allowed to raise pigeons.
01:29But perhaps the most famous usage of the carrier pigeon was in World War I. During the Great War,
01:36most countries used pigeons to relay life-saving messages and to send imminent warnings. But back to
01:43the original question, how could pigeons be trained to do all that? Well, as it turns out, pigeons are
01:51quite intelligent, reliable and easy to train. Maybe that's why Darwin was so fascinated with them. In
02:00many ways, pigeons are trained much the same way as you were trained as a child. Pigeons are raised by
02:06a
02:06keeper, and since they're naturally docile, it's a simple matter to breed and domesticate them. They are
02:13kept and fed in a coop, loft, or, if you're an ancient Egyptian, a tower, which actually plays a big
02:22role in teaching the birds where home is. The idea is that the pigeons will want to come back to
02:28their
02:28source of food and shelter. Some more extreme, er, dedicated keepers will raise pigeons in the dark at first to
02:38effectively reset their idea of home, especially if they're being retrained. While it's easiest to train pigeons
02:46from birth, it's also possible to train or even retrain adult pigeons, although retraining is considerably more
02:54difficult. Once the pigeons are acclimated to their new home, usually after a month or so, they're
03:00released to fly freely. Amazingly, most often the pigeons will simply fly in circles to get their
03:07bearings. Many keepers will make sure the birds are hungry when releasing them for the first time, so
03:13they come back for food. After another month, the birds are released farther from home. Most keepers start
03:20by taking the birds about a quarter mile away, making sure the coop is still in eyesight. Then, gradually,
03:28the pigeons are taken farther and farther away until the desired distance is reached. You might have
03:36noticed that, much like Mexico City roads, carrier pigeons are one way. They're only trained to fly home.
03:44When the time comes, the message is attached to the pigeon's leg, and it's set free to fly back to
03:51its
03:51familiar destination. So, next time you see one of these winged beauties of the sky, point aloft and
03:59coo in wonder, then feel free to chuckle that they were once the ancient world's answer to email.
04:06Alas, how they've fallen from their former glory. In any case, that, my friends, is how the humble
04:15carrier pigeon is trained. If you've enjoyed this video, I do hope you'll consider hitting that
04:22subscribe button or supporting me on Patreon. There's also that bell button thingy that will notify you
04:29when I have a new side quest for us to explore. So, yes, thanks again for watching, and we'll see
04:36each
04:36other again for the next side quest.
