# Passenger Pigeon: Flight Performance



## Snowbird (Jun 24, 2004)

Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances. 

But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove. 

Their flight has been described by Audubon as follows: “The Passenger Pigeon…moves with extreme rapidity, propelling itself with quickly repeated flaps of wings, which it brings more or less near the body, according to the degree of velocity which is required.” Unlike the Mourning Dove, the Passenger Pigeon did not make the whistling sound with its wings in flight. The long, pointed wings hooked up to a deep keel and powerful breast muscles permitted remarkable speed and evolutions in flight.

Passenger Pigeons flew at different elevations. The best rifles of 1880 could not reach the birds when they sought higher winds and they also flew just over the tree tops and sometimes through them as “small flocks can be seen to fly through the timber a few feet below the tree tops, just where the limbs are thickest and present the greatest impediment to fast flight. A rise of only a yard or so would put them above all obstructions; yet they continue their flight on the lower plane and apparently with as much speed as in the open. They dash and wheel, this way and that, now under, now over obstructions and now seemingly hang momentarily in the air, before entanglements of limbs that present an almost impervious front, but the next second they have passed; how, one cannot exactly tell, breaking line of formation, however, before reforming in the next open space beyond, and all this breakneck racing continued for miles without ever touching a limb with a feather.”

The speed and the grace of the Passenger Pigeon in flight were proverbial and had no counterpart. As expressed by Audubon, “When an individual is seen gliding through the woods and close to the observer, it passes like a thought, and on trying to see it again, the search is in vain; the bird is 
gone." 

There is no way of empirically determining the speed of Passenger Pigeons. The statements in the literature are highly variable and the methods of measurement are not usually given. The anecdotal reports range from 40 to 100 mph. Most likely Passenger Pigeons had a cruising speed of 60 mph and 70 mph when pressed. The best evidence for these figures is the many records of birds killed in New York with crops filled with undigested rice of a kind only grown in Georgia and the Carolinas. “As their power of digestion is so great, they must have, in this case, have traveled up to 400 miles in six hours.” 

In Michigan a study was done where two men stood exactly one mile apart in visual contact with each other. When the bird passed the first man he waved a handkerchief and the man at the other end started the clock and stopped it when the birds reached his position. Many observations showed a speed of 60 mph.

Scholars assume that the contour of the Passenger Pigeon and the shape of its wings would allow it to out fly most other species of pigeons. This was a necessity since they would migrate great distances in search of food, and they would often have to outrun winter storms since they would not migrate by a weather script but by a food script. For this reason Passenger Pigeons were often seen in Hudson Bay in December, and they did not return to the same locales each season. 

The quality of their flight was stellar. Audubon wrote when watching a flock pass in Ohio: “I cannot describe to you the extreme beauty of their aerial evolutions, when a hawk chanced to press upon the rear of the flock. At once, like a torrent, and with a noise like thunder, they pushed into a compact mass, pressing upon each other towards the centre. In these almost solid masses, they darted forward in undulating and angular lines, descended and swept close to the earth with inconceivable velocity, mounted perpendicularly so as to resemble a vast column, and when high, were seen wheeling and twisting within their continued lines which then resembled the coils of a gigantic serpent.”

Observers often saw continuous flights of birds from the darkness of early morning until night—Passenger Pigeons preferred to start and finish a migratory move in one day. They were known to have 100 mile commutes between nesting and feeding sites.

It is very likely that a loft of Passenger Pigeons would be 100% day birds from 600 miles. The winner from 600 miles could arrive as early as 4:00pm. Pigeon racers, as a group, have earned criticism for certain inhumane practices; however, there is no doubt that the Passenger Pigeon would not be extinct if pigeon racing existed in 1880. And this was a bird that at its peak was perhaps the largest bird population in the history of earth—at that time they were about 40% of all the birds in the world. Aggregations could be over one billion individuals and take days to pass while creating eclipses.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Very interesting! Thanks Snowbird!

Terry


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## MelBirdie (Mar 21, 2021)

Did the Passenger Pigeon or was the Passenger Pigeon ever crossed to a Homer or Racer?


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Snowbird said:


> Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances.
> 
> But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove.
> 
> ...


Thanks for pass


Snowbird said:


> Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances.
> 
> But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove.
> 
> ...


Thanks.


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Snowbird said:


> Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances.
> 
> But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove.
> 
> ...





MelBirdie said:


> Did the Passenger Pigeon or was the Passenger Pigeon ever crossed to a Homer or Racer?


Hi and not tired. Please read and comment on the author of this article


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Snowbird said:


> Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamاic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances.
> 
> But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove.
> 
> ...


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Thanks snowbird ،Is it possible to have a picture of this pigeon?


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Alijavan044 said:


> Thanks snowbird ،Is it possible to have a picture of this pigeon?





Alijavan044 said:


> Thanks snowbird ،Is it possible to have a picture of this pigeon?


FHi snowbird what means but??


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## Alijavan044 (11 mo ago)

Snowbird said:


> Photographs and illustrations of Passenger Pigeons show a bird that looks very much like the Mourning Dove. Mourning Doves are like Formula 1 cars and racing pigeons are like Indy cars if you are familiar with these genres and if not, the dove has a cleaner aero package, the dove has a much more flexible range of movement for some reason, and at 100—170 grams the dove has a smaller frontal area, which is a significant factor in aerodynamic drag, especially above 45-50 miles per hour. The power to weight ratio may favor the dove as well, as measured by, say the size of the breast muscles relative to the overall weight of the bird (this is a theory and a measurement probably has not been made). The results are the dove accelerates much faster, the top speed is higher, and the effort at cruising speed is less (due to less drag for a given speed). Since doves do not home to people (they do home quite specifically when migrating), it is not known if a Mourning Dove can maintain top cruising speed up to 425 miles, as racing pigeons can, before performance falls off. It might be that the lack of overall muscle mass may give doves a problem over a distance, since a racing pigeon will metabolize muscle at longer distances.
> 
> But what kind of a flyer was the Passenger Pigeon? Though similar to the Mourning Dove, they are from 15” to 16.5” in body length relative to about 13” for a dove, and the wing span is up to 25”—much longer than a dove.
> 
> ...


Snow bird thanky you ,i know english little but i understand you reply to me and sáy of my pigeon do you like that i take photo of wings body legg kneck of this pigeon ,where and what i buy one cock for my hen ,am pair she with one else my pigeon and i postted photo of his chicks,in my country isnt any pigeon same it,thanks snow bird you good friend for me.


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