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Miscellaneous and archives

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Visit the dovecotes of France

Dovecotes of France

. In the Fall of 2008 the Pigeoncote hosts explored Brittany, France to record the many dovecotes to be found in that region. The trip covers 19 days and the pages are layout to make following along easy. Come take a look at the dovecotes of Brittany.
Join the fun and identify these dovecote

Join the fun and help identify these dovecotes

Take a virtual Easter "egg hunt" and then go beyond virtual. The field is where its at.
Dovecote at Cothele click for larger image

Book of Dovecots

The Pigeon Cote Presents, the fully annotated second edition of Dovecotes of Great Britain. We made our first visit to Great Britain in 1998 to record the dovecotes of old described by Cooke in his work Book of Dovecotes. We were very happy to find that many, many of the dovecotes he described nearly one hundred years ago are not only still there, but many have found loving sponsors that have maintained them in pristine condition. In 2006 we made a second trip to try to find some we just didn't have time to get to during our previous five week visit, and we again were well rewarded. It took me until 2008 to prepare all the new material and include it on the updated web site.  We have added a lot of annotation, displayed in green on standard browsers, and many more photographs.
Here is a site you can visit time and again with some great colored photography of many of the cotes. Cooke's original work is shown as plain black text so you can easily distinguish Cooke's original work from the annotations provided by so many. Thanks to you all.
Parachuting pigens

Parachuting Pigeons

Science and Mechanics: fall issue of 1943 provided a short piece on the use of pigeons in WWII by the U.S. Army. Pigeons and Paratroopers are in concert behind enemy lines. The soldiers, along with the pigeon companions are in wire baskets or strapped to soldiers' chests, are dropped by parachute to enable the carrier pigeons to fly messages back to headquarters when radio or runners cannot be used. The Maidenform bra company made these devices and that is whay they are at times called bras. While the article is a bit short it is replete with excellent photos of the time.

Parachuting pigens

Viewing pigeon magazine covers

Shows you the grand extent of the available breeds in all their grandeur. The listing now also include an index to articles so you can see just what the folks are all talking about.

The Pigeon Debut essentially replaced the American Pigeon Journal (APJ), which had been America's premier pigeon magazine, dating back to 1913 when it was still called the Pacific Squab Journal. The two publications essentially overlapped only a couple of months until April of 1993. Although the APJ did publish one more issue on April of 1994. The Pigeon Debut's first issue was November of 1992. Yet as you can see, it called itself the Pigeon Digest for the first two issues. changing the name to the Pigeon Debut for the January issue of 1993 It retained that name throughout the rest of it's publication. The Debut continued in regular publication more than 14 years until it's last publication on February of 2006. By then the Purebred Pigeon magazine had been in publication for over 2 years, and which is still in publication today.

purebred

The Purebred Pigeon

Began publication as a bi-monthly publishing their premier issue November/December in 1994. At the time, it complemented the Pigeon Debut which in style mirrored the old American Pigeon Journal. The Purebred Pigeon though took a different approach, printing the magazine in full color. Color had been tried earlier, in a much more limited approach, by The Pigeon Fancier but the Fancier had remained in publication for only three years. The Purebred then took a more aggressive approach providing full color, yet a more conservative approach by publishing bi-monthly rather than monthly. This strategy of publishing in full color but only bi-monthly has worked very well for the hobby and publishers. The Purebred Pigeon remains in publication today while the Pigeon Debut ceased publication during 2006, just two years after the Purebred started. An article index is also provided

image of a camera

Lancaster National Pigeon

The Lancaster National Pigeon Show Slide Show:  Every year the National Pigeon Association puts on a pigeon show of national scope.  It is the largest pigeon show in the United States with thousands of pigeons in hundreds of breeds competing for the top honors. While this event while naturally better viewed in the feather, this virtual walk through will help you understand how pigeon shows actually work and well as provide more information and photographs of some of the winning birds at the show.

image of a camera

Pigeon Color Slide Show:

This introduction to pigeon colors with a touch about pigeon genetics, was the first, and now 10 years later, the only pigeon slide show on the web.  The show walks you through the idiosyncrasies of pigeon color names and the genetic variations that made them come about. Come find out just what pigeon so called blue and red pigeon is anyway.
free at sea

Freed at Sea

Scientific American in the August 17, 1895 issue published the method and results of their experiment of releasing pigeons at sea to learn if they could be a valuable asset to navigation, and as any pigeon fancier knows - they not only could - they did.  Read the entire article here to learn more.
Click for article blank space

Carrier Pigeons in the Frence Army

Scientific American in its July 12th, 1913, issue presented an article about carrier pigeons being used by the French army even though the wireless telegraph had become available. The Hertzian waves as it was called then was still considered a bit new fangled and unreliable, while the pigeons had proven themselves over the centuries.
a Chinese Pigeon Whislte

Pigeon Whistles

Pigeon whistles have been heard in the skies over China for well over a hundred years. The National Geographic provided a short article on the subject in the early 1900's. Whistles are attached to the pigeon's tail and when they fly as a flock, make a very melodious song. They are made of very, very light weight materials originally shellacked paper or bamboo. The rather substantial pigeon whistle shown here weights only one half once.

National Geographic pigeon article

National Geographic

The January 1926 issue of the National Geographic features the article.  Man's Feathered Friends of Longest Standing.  It started out with a picture of the First Lady Mrs.Calvin Coolidge releasing a pigeon from the White House portico.  Many other notables involved with the hobby, including the King of England, are covered as well. . It is well illustrated, as most NG articles, but also includes several color paintings by Hashime Murayama, which are well worth viewing by themselves.  A must read pigeon article!

Parachuting pigens

Parachuting Pigeons

Science and Mechanics: fall issue of 1943 provided a short piece on the use of pigeons in WWII by the U.S. Army. Pigeons and Paratroopers are in concert behind enemy lines. The soldiers, along with the pigeon companions are in wire baskets or strapped to soldiers' chests, are dropped by parachute to enable the carrier pigeons to fly messages back to headquarters when radio or runners cannot be used. The Maidenform bra company made these devices and that is whay they are at times called bras. While the article is a bit short it is replete with excellent photos of the time.

Bird Lore

Passenger Pigeon

Bird Lore was published six times per year for the National Audubon Society. It featured articles about different bird species, with photographs and beautiful color plates.  The volume featured here, for March-April 1913, has four articles about the Passenger Pigeon.  At that time, there was only one known specimen left so the sorry demise could not be altered.

Racing Homers

Racing Homers 1800's

Pigeon Racing has been a sport in America as in Europe for well over 100 years. The Century Magazine did an extensive article on the subject way back in 1886 which is fully illustrated. This article has been modified just a bit to fit a web page. Delve into this fascinating hobby of today and as you now know many yesterdays ago.
Pigeon in a can

Weak Brain? Eat canned squab

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