Abstract

Research results which have shown that: (1) pigeons have a homing ability that functions independently of direction training; (2) birds rotated in drums on the outward journey start toward home as accurately as control birds not rotated; (3) birds carrying magnets attached to the wings home as well as birds with neutral weights; (4) while release point departures under overcast skies tend to be slow and randomly distributed, birds may show homing orientation after only 40 seconds of exposure to sunlight, tend to weaken previous hypotheses regarding the basis of homing. Experimental work with pigeons at Duke University is aimed at bringing the ESP hypothesis as applied to homing behavior to a crucial test. The results of the first long distance experiment at Duke gave homing evidence confirming other investigations.