← Real Cool History for Kids
Real Cool History for Kids
Special Episode: How Do Pigeons Deliver Mail? (Guest: Eryn Lynum from Nat Theo Podcast Show)
00:23:35
Loading summary
Transcript3 lines
- [00:13]
A
Hi everyone. This is Angela Odell, host of the Real Cool History for Kids podcast show. I know that it is unusual for me to be coming to you on a week that is not a new release for the Real Cool History for Kids podcast show, but I have something special for you today. It's a special treat. Recently I shared an episode with the amazing story of Cher Ami, a homie pigeon who served in World War I and delivered a life saving message that helped save many soldiers lives. Well, today we are going to dive deep into how God designed homing pigeons with this incredible ability to find their way on long voyages. This lesson comes straight from Nat Theo Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible. It's a special podcast for kids and families. So if you love amazing animals, maybe like playful otters, enormous elephants, glow in the dark beetles and stealthy sharks, then you're going to love NAT Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible. Nat Theo is a podcast for kids and families that explores God's incredible design in nature with real science from a biblical worldview. And today you're going to get a special treat, a full Nat Theo Bible and nature lesson right here on Real Cool History for Kids. So in this episode, we're going to discover something wild. How pigeons navigate and deliver mail. And when you're done listening, Nattheo has over 100 more free episodes waiting for you. You'll learn things like how axolotls can regrow parts of their body, why beavers have orange teeth, and why platypuses lay eggs. Grow in faith and wonder as you explore God's wild and wonderful world. So kids, after this episode, ask your parents if you can listen to NAT Nature Lessons rooted in the Bible at the link in our show notes to enjoy more Bible and nature lessons. Okay, now let's learn how God designed pigeons to deliver mail.
- [02:51]
B
Hello world. Wake me up to another good Good morning. Time to go. Are you ready to explore God's wild and wonderful world? Welcome to the naptheo podcast. I'm your host, Erin Lyneum. I'm a certified master naturalist, Bible teacher and authority. And I am so excited to dive into God's written word, the Bible and his created world with you. Do you enjoy receiving mail? Nowadays, with text messages and the Internet, people don't send and receive mail like real letters as much as they once did. But it's always fun to receive a birthday card or a letter from a friend in the mailbox, isn't it? There was a time when people sent a lot more mail and when mail was very important. Because it was the main way to send messages to people who were far away. Today we will learn about an animal that helped deliver important messages. Here's our trail map. Are you ready? We are going to learn why were pigeons used to deliver messages? And what is magnetoreception. We will discover how do pigeons find the right address? And do humans have a homing instinct? Here is our trivia question. How many pigeons have received medals of honor after wars? Take a guess. And be sure to stick around until the end to find out and to hear our listener questions segment where we will answer a question sent in by one of you listeners. Have you ever seen a pigeon? We once lived in an old apartment building and there were pigeons living in the walls. Now, that is not exactly where you want to have pigeons. Unfortunately, pigeons can get a bad reputation because they are often found in cities and can be seen as dir. But pigeons are very remarkable birds. In fact, they are very smart. They have been known to solve problems, multitask, or do multiple things at once, recognize themselves in a mirror, and can even know the difference between letters in the Alphabet. That's right. It seems as though pigeons can learn their ABCs. If you listened to lesson 25, are owls wise? You might remember that we learned all about bird intelligence or how smart birds are. And pigeons certainly show this level of intelligence. Now, it's easy to get pigeons and doves mixed up. They look similar and in fact, they are both in a family of birds called Columbidae. The Columbidae bird family consists of pigeons and and doves. Now, this is interesting. There is really no scientific difference between pigeons and doves. However, in general, smaller species are called doves and larger species are called pigeons. There are over 300 species of birds in the Columbidae family, I.e. pigeons and doves living across the world. God made a lot of pigeon and dove designs. I could not believe some of the amazing colors and patterns that we see in pigeons and doves around the world. We will include some of those in the not THEO club lesson guide. Now, one way that pigeons are so smart is in how they navigate or find their way. We will learn more about that in a moment. But because of their great navigation, there is a special kind of pigeon that has been used to deliver messages. It is called the homing pigeon. It is sometimes also called the messenger pigeon or the carrier pigeon because it delivers messages and carries notes. The homing pigeon is a domestic pigeon. Do you know what that means when an animal is domesticated? It means it is trained and kept for human Use. So a horse is domesticated for riding. A cow is domesticated for milking. And my pet dog is domesticated to be a companion for my family and to guard us and keep us safe. Throughout history, Many people have wisely learned about God's animals. And even bred them to perform certain jobs. This is true in the case of the homing pigeon. When people learned how good these pigeons are at finding their way, they began to train and breed them to have more pigeons that could help deliver messages. It is believed that commanders Like Julius Caesar and alexander the great Used pigeons To carry messages across their empires. And hundreds of thousands of pigeons Were used during World Wars I and 2 to communicate across enemy lines. Homing pigeons have certainly been useful throughout history. But why are they so good at finding their way? Let's look at how pigeons navigate. First. Can you think of any creatures that need to navigate Along a long journey? Way back on lesson five, we learned about how and why birds migrate and how they navigate the skies. And more recently, on lesson 42, we learned how monarch butterflies Find their way across the thousands of miles. God created many animals to migrate or make long journeys, but how do they find their way? We learned in those lessons that some creatures use things like the position of the sun or the position of stars at night, Kind of like a map to know where to go. But what about when it is foggy or cloudy out and they can't see the sky? God designed many animals with an incredible ability Called magnetoreception. Magnetoreception is the ability to navigate Using the earth's magnetic field. What is the earth's magnetic field? It's a little bit hard to understand because we cannot see it. Put simply, the earth is like a big magnet Inside the earth's outer core. So way deep down, Way farther than you could ever dig a hole in the dirt, There is a very strong magnetic pull. That magnetic pole is so strong that it creates an invisible force field of magnetic pull around the earth's surface and atmosphere, where we and creatures live. It's kind of like a magnetic shield. In fact, this invisible shield Protects us From dangerous particles from the sun. Without the magnetic field, we could not live on earth. God put it there to protect us. The magnetic field is also what causes a compass to point north. So magnetoreception allows creatures. To use the invisible magnetic field to navigate and find their way. But how does this work? Scientists have two main theories. Do you know what a theory is? A theory is an explanation for why things might happen or act a certain way. Now, a theory is Much more than a blind guess. It is based on observation or what we see and experimentation. But it is not a fixed fact, because it is still being researched to see whether or not it is true. And in some cases, some theories, we will never be able to know whether they are true here on Earth. Here are two main theories as to how magnetoreception works. Or how creatures use the magnetic field to navigate. The first theory is that these creatures have cells. That have something inside them called magnetite. Magnetite is a mineral, and it is one of the most magnetic, Naturally occurring minerals on earth. So some scientists believe that tiny cells inside some creatures have this magnetic mineral. Which can react to the Earth's magnetic field Like a compass, which then tells the animal's brain which way they are facing and what direction they should move in. Now, I don't know if this theory is true. Scientists are still testing it. But I do love the idea of tiny compasses Inside animal cells. A second theory is that animals that use magnetoreception. Do so using a tiny protein inside their eyes called called Cry4. Scientists believe the Cry4 protein in some animals eyes React with earth's magnetic field. And since it is inside the eye, Some scientists believe this might allow birds to actually see Earth's magnetic field, which is invisible to us. That's a fun theory, too, isn't it? I just love that science leads us to these fun theories. That can cause us to think deeper and learn more about how God designed everything around us in nature. Okay, so now we understand how some creatures, including homing pigeons, Might use Earth's magnetic field to find their way. But that does not exactly answer how homing pigeons deliver mail. Because the earth's magnetic field Cannot lead them to the right address. And, of course, they don't have a GPS or a phone. That they can type an address into and send them on their way. I've never seen a bird typing anything. Here is something we need to understand about homing pigeons. They only send mail to one place. Home. You see, these amazing birds are called homing pigeons. Because they always head for home. This is called a homing instinct. An instinct is something that we or creatures do without thinking about it. So a homing instinct is like special instructions that God placed into the homing pigeon. So that it will always fly home. Homing pigeons are bred, and when they are very young, they are placed into something called a homing loft, which is their home that they always fly back to. They could then be taken to other locations, released, and they would always return back home. So Homing pigeons are a form of one way communication. When they were used to deliver mail, it wasn't exactly like today when you can text a friend and within a few seconds they can send a text message back. This communication by homing pigeons took a lot longer and it only went one way. Now this was helpful in situations like during wars. You see soldiers and pilots or scouts out in the line of duty or while traveling could take homing pigeons with them. They would write notes, attach them to the pigeons and then release them, knowing that the pigeons would fly home carrying their notes back. Now that home was at a secret base or location where other workers in the army waited to receive these notes as and bring the messages to whoever needed it. It was a form of important communication during the wars. One famous war pigeon named Cher ami even rescued 194 men during World War I by delivering a life saving message. Now sadly, Cher Ami lost an eye and a leg during this mission, but helped to save Saint so many human lives. Do you think that if someone drove you hundreds of miles away from your home that you could find your way back without using a GPS or a map or a phone? I'm not very good with navigation and I don't think I could find my way home. However, like a homing pigeon, God has given us humans a homing instinct or a desire to always return home. Now, I'm not talking about our physical homes where we live and sleep, but our eternal home where God is. You see, God created us to know that there is more than just this life on earth. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, God has planted eternity in the human heart. I believe that this means that not only followers of Jesus know about eternity, but but also those who don't follow Jesus. You see, many people deny God or say that he does not exist. But inside our souls, the deepest part of who we are, we have this deep understanding that there is more than what we can only see or touch or taste or smell. Listen to what 2 Corinthians 5:1 says about our heavenly home. We know that our body, the tent we live in here on earth, will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be a house made by human hands. Instead, it will be a home in heaven that will last forever. Now I know that it can be hard to think about our bodies not lasting forever on this world that is broken by sin's curse. Our bodies can have sicknesses and diseases and pain. I have lived with a disease for over 20 years now that I deal with every day. Maybe you or a family member or friend also deals with sicknesses or a disease. But this verse gives us great news. God has a new and forever house for us that is much better than our bodies here on earth. It is wonderful to know that if we believe in and follow Jesus as our Savior, we will one day be with him where there is no sickness, pain or death. Listen to Revelation 21:1 5 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared and there was no sea anymore. The one who was sitting on the throne said, look, I am making everything new. Remember, God has planted eternity in our hearts like a homing pigeon, always wanting to return home. This longing for our home with God should change how we live here on Earth. Colossians 3:2 tells us to set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. You see, in everything that we do, we should be thinking about God and what he wants for us and always remembering that he has a perfect eternal home for us in Heaven. This gives us great hope and a wonderful future. All right, it's time for our Listener Question segment. Here is our Listener Question. Hi, I'm Josiah, I'm eight years old, I live in South Africa and I want to know how do birds fly while sleeping? That is a great question, Josiah, and I thought it was a particularly fitting question for a lesson on birds. Although pigeons do not sleep while they fly, in fact most birds land to sleep. However, I do know about a bird that sleeps while flying. Called the Great Frigate Bird, it can fly for up to two months without landing. Some other birds that are believed to possibly have the ability to sleep while flying are ducks and other waterfowl, some swallows, and the peregrine falcon. This is because these birds have an amazing ability called unihemispheric spin, slow wave sleep, or easier said, USWs, they actually turn off half of their brains. Isn't that incredible? This ability to turn off half of their brains allows them to sleep while still being alert to what is going on around them and this helps keep them safe. In the case of the Great Frigate Bird, it can turn off half of its brain while in flight so that it can take mini power naps while keeping half its brain on so it is alert to any dangers and can keep flying without running into things. Thanks for your great question, Josiah. Stay curious about God's wild and wonderful world. And listeners, if you are curious about something in nature, you can ask permission and go to erinlyneum.com ask to send in your nature question and at the O Club members, be sure to click over at the end of this episode to the bonus video to learn how to how pigeons have been used in search and rescue operations. Do you remember our trivia question how many pigeons received Medals of Honor after the war? 32 pigeons received the Dickin Medal, which is a medal to honor animal bravery in the war. Now, of course, these pigeons did not exactly know that they were being brave or saving lives. They were simply following the instincts that God put inside them and the ways that they were trained to bring notes back to home. But how incredible that God engineered homing pigeons to deliver messages that saved human lives. Now it's your turn to explore. Go look for birds navigating the skies. Maybe some birds are migrating right now and you can watch them fly across the sky. Think about how God designed them to find their way and that humans are still trying to figure out how exactly that design works. God's ways are wonderful and it's so fun discovering his amazing designs throughout nature. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a friend and subscribe. Rate and review Nat Theo, wherever you listen. Until next time, keep exploring God's wild and wonderful world.
- [22:28]
A
Wow. Wasn't that amazing How God designed pigeons with exactly what they need to carry out their jobs. It's incredible. God's creation is filled with purpose. So guys, don't forget, head on over to Nat Theo podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or at the link in our show Notes to discover God's design in more than a hundred other creatures and plants with new lessons released every week. Join the adventure and begin exploring God's wild and wonderful world on Nat Theo nature lessons rooted in the Bible. And don't forget, you guys, I'll meet you back here soon for the next episode of Real Cool History for Kids. You know what we do with the help and the grace of Jesus our Savior, be the best you ever.