Rock Pigeon Flight Patterns

As I was looking for birds around the campus of UVM, I found that I was not having much luck. I predict that this was due to the weather, which was cold and very windy with snow flurries. It would make sense that many birds would stay in their nests when there is a combination of wind and snow, because it would be difficult to fly. However, I went out at a time where the wind was not very rough and I saw this group of Rock Pigeons sitting on top of a building.

This group of Rock Pigeons was stationary for about 15-20 minutes, however, although they didn't move their bodies, I could see their heads moving, as if they were looking around. This could be them communicating with one another or it could be them looking around at the ground for food. Finally, when the group began to fly, I noticed some things that were very distinct in their flight patterns. I noticed that they flap their wings very fast, which could be because they seem to carry a bit more weight than some other birds. This could also be because they do not tend to glide like other birds such as hawks and eagles.

The shape of the Rock Pigeon's wings also seems to have a large effect on the way that they fly. The wings are elliptical. This type of the wing is the most "purpose", so it is not very specialized. This means that the Rock Pigeon is not adapted to high-speed flying or long-distance flying. As a group, this species has a very random flight pattern. Many species of birds are very in sync when flying, and they flap their wings and turn at the same time. However, the Rock Pigeons are very scattered, random, and out of sync. This may be because unlike many other species, they spend a lot of their time on the ground in places where there are a lot of humans, in hopes of finding food. Therefore, they do not need to have an in sync flight pattern.

The Rock Pigeon was a very interesting species to observe, even though they were quite far away and stationary, they have a lot of differences from other species of birds that exist in Vermont.

Posted on February 19, 2020 12:43 AM by eisloan9