In a Telegraph article some Oxford University Zoologist describe their surprise when they found out homing pigeons navigate by following roads. They found that for the first flights over unfamiliar territory the birds would use their instinctive navigation abilities using the position of the sun and stars and their inbuilt magnetic compasses to find their way home. However after a while on the same route, they just followed the roads instead.
His team carried out dozens of tests with pigeons in Oxfordshire, releasing them between 10 and 20 miles from their lofts, each with a tiny GPS tracking device attached to their backs. Matching their routes, they found most flew straight down the A34 Oxford bypass.
"It was almost comical watching one group of birds that we released near a major A road. They followed the road to the first junction where they all turned right, and a couple of junctions on, they all turned left".
Not all of the pigeons did it all of the time, but there were enough occasions when they did for the researchers to build up a pattern.
"We even had one bird flying down the road, going round the roundabout, taking one of the turnings down that to another roundabout then leaving the road. If those birds can use the roundabouts with no problem they have to be smart. We know how confusing they are for the North American tourists.
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