instinct

[jimmy white]

one of the many things that amazes me with pigeons [ and all wild life] is" instinct"

it fascinates me the way a young pigeon , 3 weeks old,[ 3 weeks older than an egg]

can determine danger, ive often put ybs on the board outside, to let them have a bit fresh air  , a little sun, and to let them see their surroundings, while ive cleaned their boxes out. they will not worry about the normal songbirds , but by jove, when theres a hawk in the vicinity, they know it, you see them all cocking their head to the side and look up,and are very wary,, it just makes you wonder what instinct" is. one thing for sure is that its trully amazing :)

[snowy]

very true jim, i let a couple out the other day, & as soon as they flew up, they was on the roof with heads moving left right & up!  there was a hawk just coming over, must have seen it straight away. soon shot back in the loft

[Guest Silverwings]

birds seem to have an inter species early warning system ,in the nest they learn to recognise the different alarm calls of the wild birds  , and observe the response and alertness of their parents ,when cats or hawks are about , basic instincts

[mealybar]

When you come to think of it; how do they know what to do when rearing thier first brood? equally amazing!

[jimmy white]

same instinct with time,,,,they have their time to lay their first egg same again with their second egg near enough like clockwork,same again with their changing shift on eggs,again like clockwork, and their memory is second to none,marvelous thing nature :)

[jimmy white]

just musing over a point, instinct being differant than brain, instinct tells the bird to build a nest, take twigs in etc, but it doesnt tell it HOW to get it in, its comical to watch a pigeon ,take a twig,or tobacco stalk, and try and get it through the entry door of the widowhood fronts, ,,,sideways   :)

[celtic]

You obviously have'nt seen me trying to get the key in the front door after a session then jimmy lol

[Guest]

DOES'NT STOP YA MAKIN BABY'S DOES IT CELTIC ;D ;D ;D

[celtic]

Did i leave myself wide open to that one or what?

[jimmy white]

yes , you can definately get the key in the front door  ;D ;D ;D ;D

couldnt resist it ,,   all the very best pal  ;D ;D ;D

[snowy]

just make sure you lock it when you go out! lol

congratulations! all the best to the wee one!

[Guest]

Thread reminds me of a tv interview with a farmer during the foot & mouth epidemic a few years ago; talking about a cull of hill sheep which had lived on particular hills for countless generations and their lambs were born with the instinctive knowledge where the best grazing, water, shelter etc was on these hills. A cull would end all that. The hills couldn't easily be re-populated as the new animals wouldnt have the same genetic knowledge.

[debonair.pidjin]

What about when they abandon the eggs after 17-18 days if no baby hatches? Do they count the days or what??  

[jimmy white]

yes, strange one that, theyll probably sit about 3 days days over due,then they know their not going to hatch[.im talking about old birds] but if you basket them whilst their sitting 4 days, then let them,sit again,then repeat this after a few days this seems to add on 8 days to their sitting time , so can they count the sitting days?, or is it a sitting cycle, that only effects them whilst sitting,? dont know if ive explained myself very well,. any veiws.

[Guest]

Jings, a hard one this!!!!  ;D

 

Would it a function of the hen's regular egg-laying cycle something similar to pregnancy putting a stop on the human female reproductive cycle?

 

Feeling 'hatch movement' in the egg triggers a stop to the next ovulation?

 

No movement, monthly ovulation takes place, stimulates hen to rise and go down again with the cock?

[westy]

same instinct with time,,,,they have their time to lay their first egg same again with their second egg near enough like clockwork,same again with their changing shift on eggs,again like clockwork, and their memory is second to none,marvelous thing nature :)

 

i find that fasanating when they change  shift they go get water a bit of grit relax on perch for abit and then it is there turn to be on the eggs i like to watch them alot now that some of myne have laid. :) :)

[Guest Silverwings]

homing instinct ? mentioned in an earlier post that one of my voets stock cocks escaped earlier this year ( Blue 20 ) had him from eggs ,and had never been outside of the loft after 3 days missing he retuned to the loft ? last weekend one of his late bred sons escaped having had no sight of him since sunday , today watched a pigeon arrive out of the south dived onto the loft roof ? the latebred after 4 days ?  this pigeon has never flown out before either . must be a strong homing instinct in this line ? dont know how they do it !

[Guest]

Slightly different one : seen on cable TV this week a hawk / pigeon chase with a difference.  ;D

 

Just a split second before hawk closed on the pigeon, pigeon stalled its flight and dropped 'backwards' out of the sky like a stone, hawk carrying straight on.  

 

Double-take in slow motion to show what had actually happened.  

 

WHERE did the pigeon get that move from?????  ;D

 

 

[jimmy white]

A FEW FANCIERS HAVE EXPERIENCED" FLYAWAYS" IN YBS.

I WONDER IF THIS IS INSTINCT, AS OUR RACING PIGEONS ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO ROCK DOVES, WHICH, ORIGINALY LIVED IN CAVES, ETC, IF THEY KEPT BREEDING THEY WOULD BE STANDING ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, SO I WONDER IF THIS IS INSTINCT TO TRAVE AWAY AND FORM A NEW COLONY ELSE WHERE, AS I HAVE NOTICED FLYAWAYS HAPPEN IN MORE CROWDED LOFTS,  JUST A THOUGHT

[Guest]

Jimmy

 

I often link flyaways with keeing the YB's in the loft until they are in my opinion too old for their first outing.

 

I wean at 23 days, spend a week bell training them to use the trap then they're out!!!!!

 

I will relate one story, a few years aho when we were in Washington State, we had the YB's out for only the 2nd time and one or two were in the trees on our property. I rang the bell to call them in, one of the little buggers who was in the tree, flew out with a cooper hawk 6 feet from his tail and rapidly headed for the Canadian Border.

 

We guessed that was the last time we would ever see that bird, but 7 hours later we found him clung to the aviary wires (hence the term "Klingons", not only has he survived the hawk attack but he found his way home, after only being out of the loft twice.

 

Now that is what I call homing instinct

[snowy]

yes good one,

same as one of my logans, first time out went missing all afternoon night & next morning,  then came back feeding time next afternoon, abit wet & worse for where, but fair play to him!

[jimmy white]

i remember , sometime ago, i moved to kelso from edinburgh[roughly35 miles]the ybs in my old loft were out once, as i had just found out i had got this house, after the ybs were in there new  loft about a week , with an aviary. one flew over my head, i picked that bird up from the old loft ,the next day.,,,,strangest things pigeons,, i would never have singled a yb up [8 weeeks old] 35 miles, but there you are. they baffle you every time.

[Silverdale Lofts]

I remember a long time ago buying a yb at a local club breeder buyer which i could have the pick of the loft the ybs were still in the nest bowls and i picked a black witty yb out of the top nest box (can tell it was a long time ago dont see wittys about these days) the first yb race from newark the yb won the race the following week the yb was lost from the same race point on the sunday morning i got a phone call to go pick the yb up from the same loft i had bought it from and when i got there the yb was sat in the same nest box from where i picked it from.

[jimmy white]

silverdale had me thinking way back, i got a yb in belonging to blackpool, on the  day of our first yb race, i phoned up the owner, who told me to keep it[ i was in edinburgh]i told him i would put in the next race as a trainer, and hopefully hed get the bird back, well the bird was back to me before a lot of my own. so he transferred the bird, and i raced it right through to the yb national[ 280 miles at that time], the bird raced quite well and steady, as a yearling ,he went to 5 yb races, being 3d and 5th, it flew from lancaster on the sat, when it was 3d, went missing from the loft on monday, i thought a cat or hawk or wires, but that evening i got a phone call to say the bird was back in his old loft,in blackpool, just goes to show they never forget, [ the bird was on widowhood]

[snowy]

its amazing i think!