# Chinese Pigeon Whistles



## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

Thought I'd share this in case you haven't seen it before. Be sure to watch/listen to the video down at the bottom of the page... assuming you can ignore the annoying barking dog in the background!! 

The Pigeon Whistle sound is, to me, totally amazing. Very eerie and haunting in a way! I LOVE IT!

Now, my next plan, get 100 pigeons and 100 pigeon whistles and have my own flying orchestra. 

Chinese Pigeon Whistles


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## PigeonQueen (Aug 13, 2006)

wow!!!!! Absolutely amazing and how exciting! I wonder if the pigeon whistles are expensive? Couldnt quite work out how they attach to the pigeon. Thanks for sharing. Jayne


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

Yeah I have no idea how they attach either... wish they could have covered that in the little video.

The sound was pretty neat, but I also wonder how many birds had the whistles on them. Sounded like quite a few!


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

Did some extra reading on them and alot of the text says it takes 5 whistles to a flock of 20 birds to produce good sound. It also said that single instruments can produce a wide range of music. AND that they are supposedly very good for scaring off predator birds from your flight birds.


Went bouncing around on a search engine and found some more information on the whistles....


Here's an older post right here on Pigeon Talk about the Whistles, includes some links and a photo.
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f13/pigeons-pigeon-whistles-9805.html


Heres a link to a website called Silent Listening, which has some information, a photo, AND a really eerie/creepy/mesmerizing sound file! (this time with no barking dog!)
http://silentlistening.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/chinese-pigeon-whistles/


Here's a site with some photos of a Whistle collection.
http://www.wordsinspace.net/urban-m...2/08/clarence-mckenzie-lewis-pigeon-whistles/


Some history and an older textbook photo
http://www.pigeoncote.com/misc/whistles.html


Havent found any reliable sites to buy them yet... at least none in the USA. Found two in China, but neither had pricing, just said to "contact." Some have said they cost around $10-$25 each, but again no sites that sell to back this up.

Will hit eBay and Youtube now for more info. 


Edited to add:
Found this site that has some pricing in.. uh, some other currency. Great photos and some info here! Worth a look. English is down at the bottom.
http://www.windmusik.com/html/taubenpfeifen.htm#Pigeon


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Those are cool.. but I would not put or tie anything onto my birds...they say the whistle can scare away hawks...but they also can tell them it is dinner time...


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## mtripOH (Jan 4, 2010)

That dern dog!! Other than the dog the clip was pretty cool. The whistles are bigger than I thought they would be. Sounds cool but looks uncomfortable to me. Thanks for sharing.


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## Knoc (Jul 10, 2010)

Im with Spirit. I dont think I would want to strap anything on my birds, esp. of that size. I would however buy that damn dog a shock collar or a muzzle.


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

lol, the dog WAS annoying as all get out. Ugh. The sound clip on the other link, the silent listening one, was pretty good. Decent sound and no dog.

Found some whistles for sale on eBay. Group of 10 of the farmers-head single tone type for $20 total with shipping from Indonesia. And a group fo 25 for $50, didnt check shipping on those.
So on ebay at least, they are pretty cheap. 

Was trying to find any info on people that did whistle pigeon releases in the US. Found a bit of info on a club in California that used to do it but no longer did, but most still active were in Asia. Guess it just never 'took off' in the states.

Still interesting. Found pics to a good 50+ different types of whistles. Some made from snail shells, small gourds, actual eggs, bamboo, etc.


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## mickey (Feb 10, 2010)

have you found out any more on where to get these??


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

Not much, the only sure fire sale listings I found were two on eBay. Both auctions have ended now I believe.

I did find one that had all types of designs and sizes/weights of whistles, but can't recall the link. Lemme check my history. I know they had pics and prices on each, but it wasnt in USD$.


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

http://www.windmusik.com/html/taubenpfeifen.htm#Pigeon

Has several listed with prices. The top half of the page is in, uh, non-english... the bottom half is in english. They have the ones done with snail shells, real eggs, walnuts, bamboo, etc. All different styles, single tone and multi tone, different weights, colors, reflectives, etc.


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## mandylou (Oct 31, 2010)

they look kind of heavy!


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## Microcat (Nov 22, 2010)

They do. Some of the weights said 4 grams to 13 grams I believe. Wonder how much a messenger capsule weighs...?


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## mickey (Feb 10, 2010)

I saw some red headed man whistles on ebay starting bid was $10 not sure if that was for all or one??
I think it would be fun to have some, maybe even make some


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## kitwalker66 (Dec 17, 2017)

*Chinese pigeon whistles for sale*

This is an old thread, but if anyone is interested...

I lived in Beijing back in the late '80s, early '90s. I used to walk around the hutongs (alleys), and I'd often hear this haunting wooo-ooo-ooo sound, but I couldn't place it. I figured it was wind in the many wires overhead.
It happens that my elder brother was an avid falconer, and he asked me if I'd ever seen pigeon whistles - that connected the dots on that haunting sound!
If you've never seen this terrific 1937 film classic " Lost Horizon" , it's worth a look, and you'll see pigeon whistles at 1:03:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiNVerU1hBA

I collected whistles for my brother. At that time, they were somewhat rare, and there were only three families in Beijing making whistles and keeping the tradition alive. 
I have had 20 or so kicking around in a box that has moved multiple times around the world. Rather than keep moving them, I thought I would inquire whether there is an interest in them on your web site.
I've attached a few photos. Some of them have pictures and sayings carved into them, some have many pipes attached for interesting sounds.
Please let me know if you're interested. Link to photos: http://s252.photobucket.com/user/kitwalker66/library/
Link to photos: http://s252.photobucket.com/user/kitwalker66/library/


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