# Which Colors Do Pigeons See Best



## Gille

Googles failed me on this one. So here I go seeking the wisdom of those who have helped me so many times in the past. (your all my fall back team eh  (hoorah team!) lol
Ok so I'm thinking about using a symbol painted on top of a flight type box which i would like to use onsite during wedding releases for the birds to home to. 
My question is which colors do Pigeons see best?
I want to paint it in that color...whatever it is.
I've read that they see far more of the color and light spectrums than we do. (Lucky them) But which colors that people can see would they see best. Cause I'm pretty certain I can only buy colors People can see...lol
Thanks Gille


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## MaryOfExeter

They do see color in a lot more detail than us, but I would think something more bright would stand out to them more. Homing pigeons were trained once to help spot the orange vests on people who were abandoned at sea. So that's one color I know they can be trained to


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## Pegasus

What is flight top box anyway? Are you talking about the AVIARY or your house roof?

If you have a black roof I suggest yellow or white. I think what you want to know is, correct me if I'm wrong, "how can you make your birds distinguish, which is their loft/home, the easy way, right?" Well some fanciers that I know in my area use a blue strobe light or bright yellow, like the one they use for construction trucks...I think they can see the light specially when its blinking from miles away...I had my landing board painted black before but that color spook them for some reason and don't want to land on it, so I decided to flip it over and sure enough they land with no hesitation...


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## Gille

> flight type box


What i mean by that is a portable coop I can take to wedding release sites with the birds inside of it. I would then take the birds out place them in baskets where they will wait till the bride an groom have said I do, then the birds are released and they fly back to the portable coop and inisde.


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## Pegasus

*Training Basket...*

Silly me...I thought of something else...I say you can use white, since you want to use it for wedding release or some kind of ceremony...


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## MaryOfExeter

I was thinking white as well, but then I thought...there's a whole lotta white at weddings besides the birds and the baskets. Personally I'd paint the coop white, but the door/trap they go in a different color. What kind of pigeons are you using for this?


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## Gille

*tests on birds with color*

I found a site http://www.jstor.org/pss/1363706 which tested hummingbirds and other birds to see if there was a color preference. It turned out redish purple was top on the list, then red and so on. So I'm thinking a white mobile coop with a RED Cross http://www.premierflag.com/images/REDCROSS.AI.jpg
might be best...not 100% sure red is a pigeons favorite color but it might explain the actions of the females in my coop towards the redish brown males...lol
Here's the kit box style I'm thinking on using http://www.angelfire.com/tx/pigeon550/kitbox.html
I figure make it so it comes outside the van onto a fold out base and load the birds into baskets until they fly.
My wife thought it would be good to place the same RED Cross above our home coop entrance so wether they are at home or out on the job site they will learn to look for that to find the entrance and feed. Smart lady eh!


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## george simon

*Hi GILLE, international orange is the color to use. The Coast Guard use pigeons in an experment in which they used pigeons to rescue people that were lost at sea. They found that the orange was the best color to use and the birds were better at spotting then the humans. I know that it is some place on google. I don't have the time to look it up now. I would recomed a four foot circle painted on the loft roof. We had a guy that raced here in San DIEGO THAT HAD THAT COMBO PAINTED ON HIS ROOF AND HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST FLYERS IN THE COMBINE. He raced using a small team 25 birds.You might try google to see what the army did in reguard to their war birds(PIGEONS) as they moved their lofts as much as 30 and 40 miles yet the birds were able to find their lofts * GEORGE


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## spirit wings

They see the same colors as humans do but they also see ultra-violet,a part of the spectrum that we can not see.....I think the orange is a good idea. that is what hunters use to see each other when hunting, I think that one is called "blaze orange"...


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## TAWhatley

Here's a couple of links regarding what George posted:

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/PigeonSARProject.asp

http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA109510

Terry


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## fastpitch dad

TA that was rather interesting.


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## ohiogsp

Pigeons can see color alot better than we can. There has been tests done on pigeons about color. The results were if you took blue then add some red and then was asked "is it more red or more blue"? Well, it was more blue, then they would add more red and ask again. At some point you would not be able to tell if it were more blue or more red, but a pigeon could 6 more times.


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## Maggie-NC

Terry, thanks for the links - they were really interesting.


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## Pidgey

I think they see a different set of colors from us. We see colors like yellow, beige, green, red, white and black. What they see for those colors are actually corn, dried peas, milo, safflower and sunflower seeds.

The list goes on, of course, but I think you get the point.

And judging from my observations of them, they see safflower the best.

Pidgey


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## spirit wings

Pidgey said:


> I think they see a different set of colors from us. We see colors like yellow, beige, green, red, white and black. What they see for those colors are actually corn, dried peas, milo, safflower and sunflower seeds.
> 
> The list goes on, of course, but I think you get the point.
> 
> And judging from my observations of them, they see safflower the best.
> 
> Pidgey


well don't you know it that is my birds favorite color too!....lol....


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## MaryOfExeter

That's my birds' favorite color too, haha  Except at times they like the color peanut more


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## Guest

my birds like the color of white cuz thats the color of their feed bucket lol


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## TAWhatley

Gille said:


> My wife thought it would be good to place the same RED Cross above our home coop entrance so wether they are at home or out on the job site they will learn to look for that to find the entrance and feed. Smart lady eh!


Yep .. your wife is definitely a sharp lady .. better hang on to her! 

Terry


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## themela

Gille said:


> ...a portable coop...take the birds out place them in baskets where they will wait till the bride an groom have said I do, then the birds are released and they fly back to the portable coop and inside.


Would that work? I know they release birds for weddings, but have them return to the portable coop? With so many people around? People usually stay near the ceremony site - either because they are family and waiting for formal pictures or just waiting to congratulate the couple. (I know because I have officiated over 200 weddings and see this happen quite a bit - especially if the ceremony and reception site are in the same location.)

If the birds did return to the portable coop, I guess they could "follow" you to your vehicle and away from the wedding guests. 

Would the bride and groom (especially the bride) be upset that the white basket carrying the birds has a large orange (or whatever color you choose) marking? Maybe I'm seeing too many "wedding disaster-type" shows on TV.

Why wouldn't the birds just fly home - to the main loft?

I am very curious how the birds could be trained to return to the portable coop. I sometimes think my birds are training me instead of the other way around. (One bird has learned to get out of the loft - especially when I'm a little late with the meal - and he will swoop by and "scold" me for the tardiness!)

BTW: like the draft of your website - nice colors


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## Teresa

Fascinating information on pigeons' reactions to colour. One thing I did notice with Piper is that he wouldn't go near a red feeder, only wants to use the white or transparent ones.


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## Lambish

*color*



spirit wings said:


> They see the same colors as humans do but they also see ultra-violet,a part of the spectrum that we can not see.....I think the orange is a good idea. that is what hunters use to see each other when hunting, I think that one is called "blaze orange"...


Hi Spirit Wings. Bees also see in the ultraviolet. My doves like to pick out red milo seeds, but I don't know if that is because the seeds are 'red' or dark. Orange seems like the best 'target' color, but we can't really know what the birds actually 'see' when they look at orange. Some of the birds like to pick at my gold ring, if they are feeding out of my hand. Maybe the birds are most attracted to what we call 'warm' colors...red/orange/yellow.


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## mr squeaks

Pidgey said:


> I think they see a different set of colors from us. We see colors like yellow, beige, green, red, white and black. What they see for those colors are actually corn, dried peas, milo, safflower and sunflower seeds.
> 
> The list goes on, of course, but I think you get the point.
> 
> *And judging from my observations of them, they see safflower the best.*
> 
> Pidgey


I would have said that too, UNITL I gave them HEMP SEEDS...so much for "bright" color... Hemp trumps ALL... 

Shi


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## Gille

> Would that work? I know they release birds for weddings, but have them return to the portable coop? With so many people around? People usually stay near the ceremony site - either because they are family and waiting for formal pictures or just waiting to congratulate the couple. (I know because I have officiated over 200 weddings and see this happen quite a bit - especially if the ceremony and reception site are in the same location.)


Yes you can train young birds to do this. All it is, is they are in baskets up near the bride an groom. They will be released by my daughters, take to the air, locate the portable coop that will be set up away from the crowd (the one with the bright orangish redish cross on top) they will fly down and in to be fed. Cause they were not fed much earlier in the day. From there i put them back into the baskets, dismantle the portable coop and take them and it home oh and my daughters...lol I've seen some footage of something simular. Here's the links http://www.youtube.com/v/C5Hq0kPLgw4 
http://www.youtube.com/v/qaqiASY2PIg


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## carbide34

*Colors for pigeons*

I have 2 Bright Orange Fleet-Farm Bags, layed out on Top of my Coop that No One Notices, But I think they Do  I figured it Couldn,t Hurt.


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## pigeonraiser

I google earthed my home and property awhile back and it was amazing how my red plcnic table stood out from that high in the sky.


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