Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
During WWII, a research program tried to train pigeons to guide missiles. Pigeons would follow the image, pecking at it, which would move the screen on its pivots. The program was shutdown, with the lead researcher stating:”Our problem was no one would take us seriously.”
The Coast Guard trained pigeons to assist in finding people lost at sea. They sat in a dome attached to a helicopter, pressing a lever after spotting life preservers or debris. They had a 90% success rate in initial trials.
Hangleton Manor, the oldest secular building in Hove, England, has a cursed dovecote reputedly haunted by ghost pigeons.
Because birds such as pigeons have a much higher threshold for detecting movement, they would likely see a movie shown at today’s industry standard frame rate as a series of flashing slides
Psychologist B. F. Skinner got pigeons to repeat strange “rituals” by dropping food into their cage at random intervals — the birds associated their actions before the treats with reward, and demonstrated superstitious repetition of those actions.
Carrier pigeons beat internet upload speed as late as in 2010. They actually sent pigeons over with USB sticks the same time they started uploading a video over broadband and the pigeons won.
The world´s first tanks where so loud it was impossible to communicate via radio, instead they used carrier pigeons.
Pigeons never forget a face. If you chase one away, it will remember you and avoid you in later encounters.