IHE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENT
VERSUS HEREDITY ON RACING ABILITY
IN HOMING PIGEONS (Columbus livia)

Tracey L. Hewitt

School of Science and Natural Resources
Lake Superior State University
Sault Ste Marie, Michigan 49783 USA

December 5, 1995


Abstract. Homing pigeons (Columba livia) are unique in that they have the ability to
home. The sport of racing homing pigeons relies on this ability. The purpose of this study
was to determine the importance of environment versus heredity on racing ability in
homing pigeons. Female birds (hens) from a family of pure Bastin pigeons were analyzed
for this study. The degree to which environment, in the form of training and experience,
contributes to racing ability was measured by comparing the average racing speed in
m/min. of young versus old birds. The speeds were summed and meaned. A two-tailed
student's t-test (alpha level 0.10) was conducted. The result of the t-test was significant.
The degree to which heredity contributes to racing ability was measured by comparing the
average speed differences in mother/daughter versus cousin/cousin pairings. The average
speed differences for each group were summed and meaned. A student's two-tailed t-test
(alpha level 0. 1 0) resulted in no apparent difference between mother/daughter and
cousin/cousin comparisons. From the results, it can be concluded that environment, in the
form of training and racing experience, contributes to racing ability. There is a trend for
greater similarity of performance between closely related (mother/daughter) birds although
no apparent difference in racing ability was found. Overall, the contributions of both
environment and heredity in determining the racing ability of homing pigeons appear to be
important.


Selected References

Benvenuti, S. , A.I. Brown, A. Gafliardo, and M. Nozzolini. 1990. Are American
homing pigeons genetically different from Italian ones? The Journal of
Experimental Biology. 147: 235-243.

Stephens, W. 1983. Pigeon Racing. London: Ward Lock Limited









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