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The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the rock pigeon, selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances, using magnetoception. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its nest and mate. This made it relatively easy to breed from the birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. Flights as long as have been recorded by birds in competitive pigeon racing. Their average flying speed over moderate distances is around but speeds of up to have been observed in top racers for short distances. Their skills made them used to carry messages as carrier pigeon or messenger pigeons. They have been used in many places around the world. They are usually referred as "pigeon post" or "war pigeon" during wars. ==Sexual dimorphism== Male and female pigeons (cocks and hens respectively), can be differentiated by physical characteristics of the head, beak, height, and breast, though visual identification of gender by physical characteristics alone can be inaccurate. Males usually stand taller, and have larger beaks, crops, wattles, and eye ceres (fleshy growth around the eyes), as well as a round head and thicker nape. Females, on the other hand, tend to be shorter with smaller beaks, wattles, and ceres, as well as flatter heads and fuller breasts. Male and female pigeons also show different behaviours. The "coo" of males is louder and more insistent, especially when courting. Display behaviour also differs between the sexes. Most notably, males often turn 360 degrees with an inflated crop and a loud "coo", to show interest in a female or to defend or discourage another pigeon from entering its territory (usually a nesting box), while females almost never turn full circle, but rather do a 270 degrees back-and-forth rotational motion. Although the sexual dimorphism in homing pigeons is rather subtle most accomplished breeders of homing pigeons will easily distinguish the genders of this breed (this is not true for all breeds of domestic pigeon; for instance, the males and females of the Archangel breed look almost identical). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Homing pigeon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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