OT - Pigeons

[MadAmster]

I have always suspected that pigeons are not the most intelligent of creatures. This past few days that suspicion has proven to be true.

In last week's storms we lost about half the fencing on one side of the back garden. Cue pigeons trying to land on the fencing that got blown away. Not just a one time thing either. Several days later and they are still trying to land on the missing piece of fencing.

[Ramshank72]

Research suggests otherwise; they are one of only a select few animals that are known to recognise their own image (self recognition of a reflection), they have the ability to solve sequential mathematics (an ability only shared with rhesus monkeys), and are more hygienic than your average forest fan.
They have strong homing instinct that drives a lot of their behaviour, which might explain the attempts to sit on your missing fence... or maybe they know that you are going to put it back up, and are hinting at you?
My wife's a zoologist in case you're wondering where this comes from!

[Geoff Parkstone]

Perhaps Dutch pigeons have a little more addled brain as a result of flying through clouds of substance smoke

[ramAnag]

I have always suspected that pigeons are not the most intelligent of creatures. This past few days that suspicion has proven to be true.

In last week's storms we lost about half the fencing on one side of the back garden. Cue pigeons trying to land on the fencing that got blown away. Not just a one time thing either. Several days later and they are still trying to land on the missing piece of fencing.

Pigeonist!

[StensonRam]

Well its well known that pigeons have their own built it sat nav and can find their way about anywhere, I guess their sat navs haven't updated yet and still showing as the fence still there

[Geoff Parkstone]

I have always suspected that pigeons are not the most intelligent of creatures. This past few days that suspicion has proven to be true.

In last week's storms we lost about half the fencing on one side of the back garden. Cue pigeons trying to land on the fencing that got blown away. Not just a one time thing either. Several days later and they are still trying to land on the missing piece of fencing.

Aagh, anecdotal evidence only MA and so only worthy of instant dismissal. I've seen blackbirds do the same thing, so it proves nothing about the intellect of pigeons, just that other birds do the same thing 😀

[Trickytreesreds]

Well the one I saw dive head first into a mirrored window at 40 mph, must have been a Kamikaze with his own mirror image

[MadAmster]

Research suggests otherwise; they are one of only a select few animals that are known to recognise their own image (self recognition of a reflection), they have the ability to solve sequential mathematics (an ability only shared with rhesus monkeys), and are more hygienic than your average forest fan.
They have strong homing instinct that drives a lot of their behaviour, which might explain the attempts to sit on your missing fence... or maybe they know that you are going to put it back up, and are hinting at you?
My wife's a zoologist in case you're wondering where this comes from!

Hardly a great challenge though is it?

[Andy_Faber]

On a related subject it might be useful to know the difference between two outwardly similar birds, the blackbird and the crow. If you see two crows together they're blackbirds. If you see a blackbird on its own it's a crow.

[swaledale]

On a related subject it might be useful to know the difference between two outwardly similar birds, the blackbird and the crow. If you see two crows together they're blackbirds. If you see a blackbird on its own it's a crow.

Which is wrong on at least two points, a Blackbird or at least the male is black, has a yellow bill and is less than half the size of a crow, whereas a crow is a large black bird with a black beak so one would be unlikely to mix them up!

There's a well-known saying - "a Crow in a crowd is a Rook, a Rook on its own is a Crow" - based on the behaviour of the birds, which are similar in size and appearance, Rooks tend to be of in large flocks of 50 or more birds, whereas crows tend to be solitary or in pairs, though they do form small flocks of up to 10 birds.