# Can pigeons see in dark?



## keval90

Can pigeons see in dark or fly in dark?


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## Skyeking

My birds just want to roost at night, and do think their vision is limited, but those pigeons that flew night missions during the war had to be able to see  real clearly.


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## KORMEZ

my birds visability in the dark is 0%  i know this becouse ive been many times in and around the loft at night i can touch them or pat them without them moving at all.. but i have heard of pigeons flying thru the night soo :s no clue


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## warriec

they cant see in the dark, thats why its easir to catch them in the dark. I dont recommend playing around nest when its dark, if the parents leave they will not come back till morning and your egg would chill


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## MaryOfExeter

No animal can see in the dark without some kind of light. That's why owls have such big eyes - to let in as much light they can possibly get. With a little light from the moon and whatnot, I'm sure they could see a bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if the pigeon would find the nearest roost and stay there until morning. Flying at night probably isn't on their favorite things to do list. Homing pigeons have a very strong homing ablility so I'm guessing those in the war used everything they had to find home. They did a test on homers where they let a flock go with special contacts in that kept them from seeing anything. They made it home, most landing a few yards from the loft, with a few landing on the roof feet from the landing board. If they could do that with contacts, I'm sure they could do it in the real darkness. I wouldn't risk it though. It's best to fly them on nice sunny days. Flying them in the dark will do nothing but give you a high chance of ending up with many losses from getting lost, hurt, or killed by owls and other predators.


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## TerriB

I believe that the pigeons that flew night missions during the war experienced very high losses. From what I've seen with my birds, pigeons don't have good night vision.


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## KIPPY

I've seen a few of the ferals fly off at night. We have street lights of course so it wasn't like pitch black out.
I got home late from work one day/night and the ferals that roost on my patio were still waiting for dinner. I felt bad so I turned on the yard light and threw some seed down. They had a late night snack and went to bed.


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## eric98223

MaryOfExeter said:


> No animal can see in the dark without some kind of light. That's why owls have such big eyes - to let in as much light they can possibly get. With a little light from the moon and whatnot, I'm sure they could see a bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if the pigeon would find the nearest roost and stay there until morning. Flying at night probably isn't on their favorite things to do list. Homing pigeons have a very strong homing ablility so I'm guessing those in the war used everything they had to find home. They did a test on homers where they let a flock go with special contacts in that kept them from seeing anything. They made it home, most landing a few yards from the loft, with a few landing on the roof feet from the landing board. If they could do that with contacts, I'm sure they could do it in the real darkness. I wouldn't risk it though. It's best to fly them on nice sunny days. Flying them in the dark will do nothing but give you a high chance of ending up with many losses from getting lost, hurt, or killed by owls and other predators.


ok i am sorry but whos idea was it to put contacts in the birds eyes? and whos job was it?? just rubbed me funny i have some of my homers that i would not want any part of holding them down for that. vaccines are hard enough!!

E..


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## Charis

eric98223 said:


> ok i am sorry but whos idea was it to put contacts in the birds eyes? and whos job was it?? just rubbed me funny i have some of my homers that i would not want any part of holding them down for that. vaccines are hard enough!!
> 
> E..


That is a funny image. LOL


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