Interesting Pigeon History

I’d be willing to guess that very few people have ever heard of “Project Pigeon”.  I sure hadn’t, but I discovered it when I was at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. recently.  It’s really quite interesting!

In 1939, a behavioral psychologist named Burrhus Frederic Skinner wondered if birds could be used as kamikaze pilots for bombs.  This thought occurred during the beginnings of WWII, when the Germans had bombed Warsaw.  Skinner decided to work with pigeons because they have better vision than humans, are faster in movements, can distinguish colors, don’t get airsick and are easily handled.

He first trained them to peck at a specific picture/target by rewarding them with food when they hit the target with their beak.  He also trained them to be comfortable in a harness while they pecked at the target and ate their rewards.  When they had learned this, he progressed to training the pigeons to ‘steer’ their bomb.  Skinner designed a system that had moving pairs of lightweight rods around the pigeon’s neck.  When the bird lifted or lowered its head, it closed electrical contacts to operate a hoist.  When it moved its head from side to side, the hoist moved back and forth.  Skinner would push the whole thing across the room and the birds learned to guide it straight towards the target, finally receiving its reward at the end.  The pecking itself was transmitted as electrical signals to a control center.  When the image of the target started to move off center, the pigeons would peck frantically to bring the device back on track (and to get their reward!)

In June of 1941, Skinner brought his idea and research to the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), but was told ‘no’.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Skinner filmed his pigeons in action and went back to the NDRC.  This time they showed a little interest, but still thought it was a long shot.  Another gentleman, A.D. Hyde, the head of the mechanical division in General Mills Inc., thought the idea was sound and decided to help Skinner.  Hyde convinced his company to back the project.

In June of 1943, after refining the system and updating the apparatus, Skinner won a contract with the government for “Project Pigeon”.  He worked with 64 pigeons, training them extensively to guide their bomb, even with wartime distractions such as gunfire or other loud noises nearby, high altitude (10,000 ft), bright flashes, simulated shell bursts, massive G forces and, the worst potential distraction of all, pigeons of the opposite sex.  Nothing deterred those military pigeons from their duty!

Unfortunately for Skinner, and perhaps fortunately for his pigeons, in September of 1943 the German government used missiles controlled by radio to wreak havoc on the American fleet landing soldiers in Salerno.  By October of 1944, the American government decided that their funding should go towards figuring out how to copy the German ingenuity and not towards the pigeons.  Skinner was out.  And so were the pigeons.  But it is a fascinating bit of history that I know I never learned in school.  If you want to learn more, there is a great article at www.historynet.com.

Submitted by Laura MacLeod, World Bird Sanctuary Education Coordinator