Pigeon History

Pigeons have been the fascination of mankind for thousands of years.

Ancient Dove Cotes *link
More Dove and Pigeon Cotes *link
European Cotes *link
Capadocia Cotes *link

For centuries, pigeons have
become a valuable tool for studying inheritance and mutation in small animals due to their prolific nature and short gestation time.

Pigeons have also served a vital role in the military as message carriers in world wars one and two, and several have literally saved hundreds of lives in doing so. Due to their importance in these wars the united states government in acted special laws that would protect certain rights of pigeon fanciers.

For more on pigeons in the war *link

For more on pigeons in the war *link Pigeons have been important to many cultures around the world for food, their droppings used for fertilizer, sport, racing, and genetics and as show animals.

The Royal Family of England has kept pigeons for centuries and the present queen still has her own stud of racing homers.

 
The Royal Pigeon Racing Association (RPRA) *link

Pigeons have been excellent subjects for genetic studies of inheritance for hundreds of years.

Pigeons are certainly not the nasty little creatures that some people have made them out to be.

Pigeons are popular throughout the world, where they are bred, flown and shown.

An interesting side note, The pigeons that are seen in the parks and cities of the U.S. are not indigenous birds.

They are escapees or decedents of escapees from local pigeon lofts. In fact, Man exterminated one indigenous pigeon of the united states in the 19th century, the passenger pigeon.

Gone forever by man's hand.

Today, with the advent of television, video games, computers and the like, pigeon keeping is becoming a lost art.

There are valuable lessons that today's youth can learn from keeping pigeons, from the responsibility of taking care of small animals, to the fascinating study of genetics.

I would rather see my children enjoying a wholesome hobby that the whole family could participate in rather than have them sitting in front of a television set playing video games.