1.4 Post Pigeon

          Post Pigeon

2020, Amsterdam:

• • Pigeons are often described as the ‘flying rats’ of the city.

  • Not a day goes by without witnessing at least five parcel delivery services, often vans.

• My conclusion: the pigeon is not the only thing swarming through the city.

2018, the facts:

• • Dutch commercial delivery vans make 813 stops. That is 4 stops a day. Post and parcel deliveries stop most often at private addresses (two third of the cases), you get my point. (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2019)

630 AD, The Arabians invent pigeon post.

• • Pigeons were first used as messengers in ancient Egypt. Pigeons are effective messengers due to their homing abilities. For a long time, pigeon post was the fastest way to deliver a message.

• • It is assumed that homing pigeons are equipped with magneto reception, a sense that allows the pigeon to detect the magnetic fields of the world that they can use as a compass.

1 + 1 = No wonder I had to think about pigeon post, but how does it work?

• • Pigeons are put in cages and are sent away to wherever the owner tends to receive mail from. They are kept there until a letter has to be sent. It is attached to their legs and then the pigeon uses their homing abilities to fly home and owner who receives its mail.

Post Pigeon

• In this post pigeon era where we are able to order everything online (and also tend to use it super-frequently), parcel delivery services are often discussed which can’t surprise us since they take part of our everyday lives. Today it’s the flying rats and parcel delivery vans. Next year I might add drones to this list. I’ll keep you posted.