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The Original All Roller Talk Discussion Board Archive >
Homing Instinct
Homing Instinct
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Velo99
1037 posts
Apr 05, 2007
3:24 PM
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Irish,
As a rule the homing instinct isn`t very strong and birds can be retrained to a new loft in a few weeks.
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V99
Flippin`The Bird!
http://www.bluedotloft.50megs.com
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Hector Coya
145 posts
Apr 05, 2007
3:30 PM
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A friend gave me a bird to fly,it was 1 year old and flown at his house,He lived in los Angeles,i live in San Dimas,it was about40 miles,that bird flew back the same day i let it go.
Hector Coya
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DeepSpinLofts
29 posts
Apr 05, 2007
5:39 PM
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In my family the Checks & Bluebars appear to have the best homing instinct. They must fly far away... because I have a Bluebar hen that has left the vicinity of the loft and came back home 2 days later on 2 seperate occassions.
I have a Check hen that has done this exact same thing.
Hey Hector, was the bird a Check or Bluebar?
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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lil_jess
33 posts
Apr 05, 2007
8:57 PM
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i will have to go with deep...I found that the Hard C***** Red/Blue Bar, Check can have a good homing ability...I think these C***** Are strong characteristic birds...
Last Edited by on Apr 05, 2007 8:58 PM
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Spud
96 posts
Apr 06, 2007
5:36 AM
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A male pigeon is a COCK. Nothing wrong with writing it out.
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Missouri-Flyer
457 posts
Apr 06, 2007
6:15 AM
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I hate to disagree, BUT
Out of the birds lost in my overfly, the ones that came back were NOT bars or checks.
I can't seem to comprehend where color makes one better or worse as far as any instincts!
It boils down to the lesser working birds are always the ones with more stamina and strength when it comes to birds finding their way back because they are the same birds just flying and not performing, making them use less of their energy, hence giving them the energy to fight back to their loft.
Of course, there are the occasional bird that is a hard performer that does have the energy to fight back, but you all know what I am saying.
As Hector stated, they will surprise ya on how far even the roller will travel to make it home.
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Jerry
Home of "Whispering Wings Loft"
Last Edited by on Apr 06, 2007 6:20 AM
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bman
266 posts
Apr 06, 2007
6:35 AM
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This brings up the question why isn't the homing instinct stronger in general? You can't breed to bird that doesn't come back fron an overfly.So why isn't natural selection working to improve their homing instinct?
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Ron
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Missouri-Flyer
458 posts
Apr 06, 2007
6:42 AM
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we have all seen the birds that sky out, go above the clouds, get pushed away by the wind and or rain, and make it back usually within a short time. Then the next week, blue bird sky, slight breeze, and they are gone. Barometric pressure controls alot of what the birds go thru when airborn. Does it affect their ability to find their home? Maybe, but the stronger bird will always have an advantage..
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Jerry
Home of "Whispering Wings Loft"
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Shaun
466 posts
Apr 06, 2007
10:28 AM
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I recall reading a very experienced racing pigeon fancier's studies of how racers find their way home, often from hundreds of miles away. The writer observed that when racing pigeons are released, hundreds...perhaps thousands of birds, circle a few times then all head in the same direction. This particular aspect was likened to migrating birds, which know the general direction to take.
As the racing pigeons' flight continued (with them still in unchartered territory), it could be observed that they were following predictable paths, such as a coastline or maintaining the setting sun in a particular position in relation to their flightpath.
Where matters became interesting was the part of a race where pigeons were nearer to home, but still beyond the boundaries of their knowledge gained from training tosses. It could be observed that they followed the likes of main roads which were going in the same direction, to keep them on track. Eventually, the racer would reach places it had actually been before and so could, therefore, rely on memory for the final hurdle of the race.
In comparison, your average roller flies mainly above its loft, occasionally going for a wander, but not too far away. Surely, it's not surprising that their homing instinct is generally crap. Breeding over successive generations has concentrated on rolling and kitting performance, so homing instinct has had to take a backseat.
I did experience with my first rollers, which a guy sold me a couple of years ago, that although their homing instinct was very limited, it didn't stop half of them, after nearly 3 weeks, making a beeline out of my loft, straight over the rooftops and away, in the vain hope of finding the loft they'd come from, 200 miles away. So, the roller might have poor homing instinct, but that doesn't stop it trying!
Shaun
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