Why Do Pigeons Bob Their Heads?

[Judi Lynn]

By Emma Bryce - Live Science Contributor 13 days ago Animals

Are they really wagging their heads up and down? Look a little closer …



Head-bobbing in pigeons plays a critical role in how they see the world.
(Image: © Shutterstock)

In 1978, a group of researchers in a laboratory at Queen's University in Canada clustered around a plexiglass box enclosing a treadmill … with a pigeon walking on it. The purpose behind this comical scene was to try and answer an age-old question: Why do pigeons bob their heads?

Head-bobbing is as much a feature of pigeons' identity as is their tendency to swarm us at the slightest suggestion that we might be harboring a snack. Bopping their heads as they stalk about pecking the ground for crumbs, these birds seem to be grooving to some secret beat, as if they're all attending a silent disco in the town square.

But what's the real purpose behind this seemingly ridiculous motion?

The 1978 treadmill experiment gave us the first crucial insights into that question. And the study overturned one major assumption in the process: Pigeons aren't actually bobbing their heads. Instead, they're pushing them forward.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/why-pigeons-bob-heads.html

[Buckeye_Democrat]

1. Spotting...

[TlalocW]

2. Owls do the same thing

Helps them see better.

TlalocW

[burrowowl]

3. Kick

[Judi Lynn]

4. Whooo.

[Bearware]

5. More on this...

Last edited Sat Nov 2, 2019, 10:15 PM - Edit history (2)

and a later version...

[SCantiGOP]

6. Maybe

They’re all born with the BeeGees song “Stayin’ Alive” stuck in their head.