Did the CIA Really Put Cameras on Pigeons?
During the 1970s, CIA researchers developed a camera so small that it could be strapped to a pigeon. Here’s how the program was designed: the ordinary homing or carrier pigeon (Columba livia) would be released near a target, and it would do what a homing pigeon does best - go home, while taking close-up reconnaissance pictures along the way, of course.
Today’s Trivia Question
One declassified CIA study considered sending camera-carrying pigeons over which high-priority Cold War target?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Bonus points if you know the code name given to the pigeon-camera research.
| A Few More for Fun… |
A pigeon spy sounds like it comes right out of a cartoon or kids’ movie, but the CIA put very serious effort and thought into the whole project. Cameras, flight paths, training, and timing…the more you dig into this information, the stranger, and yet more technical, it all becomes.
What ultimately made the CIA’s pigeon-camera project unreliable?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
| A Few More Trivia Questions Before You Go… |
CIA pigeons were…unusual, to say the least. Pigeons themselves? They may be even stranger than you realize. Their everyday, sidewalk-dwelling reputations suggest they’re a pretty average bird, but here are a few more reasons to give the next one you see a little extra respect.
Science
Pigeon chicks are fed a milk-like liquid produced by which parent?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
History
During World War II, why did some carrier pigeons get fitted with special “pigeon vests”?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Geography
Movies
In the film Home Alone 2, there is a character known simply as “Pigeon Lady”. The actress who played that role had already won an Oscar for which film?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Language
Long before we used the word “pigeon” to describe the fearless birds commonly seen strutting along city sidewalks, what did we use the word to mean?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Answers
Today’s question Answer: B. Soviet nuclear sub shipyards in Leningrad. A CIA feasibility study for the project specifically considered Soviet nuclear-sub work at shipyards in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), as a prime example of a high-priority target. Bonus answer: TACANA. While it is fun to ask just where the CIA came up with that name, the answer is surprisingly dull. The CIA randomly chooses “cryptonyms,” or “crypts,” from a preapproved pool, which prevents the name from revealing anything about the mission or its goals. However, officers can bypass the rule and select names, too. | |
| 01 | Answer: C. Its chest. The camera was strapped to the bird with a tiny harness, and the camera rested on the bird’s chest. This kept the bird’s wings free for the flight home. |
| 02 | Answer: C. 150-220. The timer-controlled cameras featured surprisingly small motors that advanced the film automatically as the birds flew over their targets. However, using a bird as an unexpected reconnaissance aircraft had a pretty significant flaw. |
| 03 | Answer: D. The pigeons didn’t reliably fly over targets. Apparently, even the CIA couldn’t convince its operatives (i.e., the pigeons) that the shortest route home needed to include one particular building or site. |
| 04 | Answer: B. False. The CIA says details of the pigeon missions are still classified! Some secrets, apparently, remain strictly for the birds! |
| 05 | Answer: C. Both. Male and female pigeons feed their young a milky liquid produced in the lining of their crop (a small pouch in their digestive tract between the mouth and stomach). |
| 06 | Answer: D. To protect them while parachuting with soldiers. The vests allowed paratroopers to connect the birds during a jump and then release them once they safely reached the ground. Extra fun fact: The pigeon vest was designed by Maidenform, a major bra maker in the United States that also made parachutes and pigeon “bras” during the war. |
| 07 | Answer: A. New Zealand. Great Barrier Island had a regular, private pigeon-post service to Auckland that began in 1897! The unofficial service’s pigeon-post stamps are regarded as the world’s first “airmail” stamps. |
| 08 | Answer: C. My Left Foot. Brenda Fricker won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot before she became Kevin McCallister’s pigeon-feeding friend in the classic holiday film sequel. |
| 09 | Answer: D. A young bird. The word came into English through Old French (pijon), ultimately from the Late Latin pipio, which means “young bird.” |
How did you do? Score 1 point for each correct answer and 1 point for each bonus you knew. Perfect score: 10.
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