Can high power electrical lines affect homers?

[EageHail]

I was wondering if high power electrical lines could affect the homing abilities of my homing pigeons. I took all of them out and released them not a mile from their loft and only about 10 out of 30 came back. One of them that flew away was one that I hand fed from birth. Is there a reason for this?

[Royaltypigeon]

EageHail, I'm not sure about the power lines, but Power Plants can, and do have an effect on them.
Since you only took them one mile, I am assuming you must be in the beginning stages of training. They still might find their way home.
Good Luck.
Gary H.

[EageHail]

This was about 3 years ago and i could see my loft from across the farm field. That is why i was thinking that the power lines caused this. They are the really big ones that hold like 6 wires and are on metal frames, not wooden poles.

[Pidgey]

Well, did they have the chance to fly around the loft much to get their own bearings on your place? The theory is that they navigate the last little bit home based on visual familiarity of the surroundings. They have to learn what their home looks like on the outside by going out to some close spot, sitting and looking at it. Then they fly back in, then back out, in, out...

Then they start looking at it from farther away, etc. until they've got a real good idea what it looks like. After that they start learning all the landmarks around the area and get to where they can navigate in that last mile or so. Oh, there are geniuses that can do all that learning much quicker and there are slow ones that will never get it, but that's how most of them do it.

Is there any chance they didn't get enough close training around the loft? And have you had any problems losing them since?

Pidgey

P.S. I see that this is my 200th post and now I'm a "Senior Bird." Does this mean I now coo-allify for the an AARP (Argumentative and Arthritic Racing Pigeon) discount at the feed store?

[EageHail]

They had flown around the loft daily for a long time. Some of them had even raised young in my loft.

[Pidgey]

Well, that explains why you're asking about the power lines. Did you ever have this problem again? I remember talk that solar flares caused pigeons' navigational computers to fault out. Did anyone you know have losses that same day? Otherwise you're looking at a lot of local predators.

Pidgey

[re lee]

Thats a if. If they did fly say within 15 feet from high voltage lines. Yes perhaps a problem happened. Some power lines carry 350,000 volts. That gives a static charge But Hawks flying wrong direction. Sun anything can give problems. Pigdey I notoce you are from Tulsa ok. About 120 miles east from Me . You fly with the keystone or tulsa area club. You will Know about the sooner power plant. They send out 350,000 volts on there lines. Many racers have raced over those lines. And made it home. But still If released low flight maybe something did affect things.

[Pidgey]

Re Lee,

Actually, I have to go to power plants all the time for my job. Did you know that there's actual training and a certificate for holding a 400,000 volt line with your bare hands? It's all about being insulated from the ground and that's why birds can sit on those wires without toasting.

I don't fly my birds in races so I don't hang with a club. I've just got my birds for kicks and giggles and I've got a lot of unreleasable ferals that have broken wings and the like.

I was assuming that EageHail was thinking that the power lines might confuse them and cause them to get lost--I hadn't even thought about them getting shocked or electrocuted. I guess we'll have to ask him!

Pidgey

[re lee]

I toured the sooner power plant years back at a safety meeting. They can produce 450,000 But at that time the lines could not handle full voltage. I have seen where they can walk lines for rescue. there are several people in your area that have birds. Do you know m,any of them.

[Pidgey]

Oh, a few...

I used to know Jerry Meadows (there's a story there) who was the secretary for the Tulsa club. I know Carl Dewberry, Bill Kinyon, Robert Faust (sp?), Don Cunningham... Some of them I know because I've picked up some of their birds from folks who have contacted me. Hawk hit, coccidiosis, lost & starving...

But, generally, rescue/rehabbers don't have a lot of interface with the flyers. It's not because there's enmity, there just isn't as much commonality as you'd think.

Pidgey

[re lee]

Dewberry has some decent birds. janssen and ludlos. . Kinyon I believe has been doing well in the races. Did you ever know Dave johnson,

[lawman]

Originally Posted by EageHail

I was wondering if high power electrical lines could affect the homing abilities of my homing pigeons. I took all of them out and released them not a mile from their loft and only about 10 out of 30 came back. One of them that flew away was one that I hand fed from birth. Is there a reason for this?

Hi There, Don't let anyone tell you High Power electrical Lines don't cause problems for pigeons. Pigeons navigate home at least in part my navigating the electrical fields of the earth. Any distortion in those fields is going to cause problems for your homing pigeons. The higher the electrical output the higher the distorion in the electrical fields. If the electrical lines are as close to your home as your talking about then I would say an absolute "yes", to the electrical fields surounding those lines causing problems for your birds. They won't talk about it much, But its a very well known secret in Europe, they ground their lofts by use of whats called a "farady cage". Basically you wrap your loft with copper wiring and then put approx. four feet of one end straight down into the ground. Effectively creating a shielding effect for the birds from any output from the electrical lines, or any other electrical power source. I know it sounds strange, but it does work, I use the same system on my own lofts. last year prior to putting the "system" on my loft, I had almost 25% losses before I got my birds out 5mi from home, with approx 15% directly off of the loft. This year using the "system" I've only lost one bird out of 65 off of the loft, with no additional losses to the 5mi mark. This was the only change I made to my personal system of loft management and WOW what a change.