More Magnetite, Please!

Overview

Objectives/Goals Homing pigeons have been racing home for many generations. Is it possible to add a supplement to their food that would allow then to find their way home quicker? Methods/Materials I separated two groups of birds and fed Group A, the Magnetite supplement, along with their feed.Group B was fed it's regular diet.Both groups were banded with electronic race bands. I took the two groups of birds on six training tosses in six weeks. Each group was released at the same distance (half-hour apart)and allowed to fly home. An electronic clock was set up at my house and recorded the birds as they entered their loft. I detailed my findings in my journal for each of the six training tosses. Results From my observations, it was hard to pinpoint the success from the Magnetite supplement. On certain training tosses the Magnetite fed birds did arrive home faster. However, on the other training tosses this was not the case. Group A arrived home faster on the third, fifth, and sixth toss. Group B arrived home faster on the first, second, and fourth toss. Conclusions/Discussion Based on my experiment I was not able to clearly determine that Magnetite does enhance a pigeon's flying ability. I am rejecting my original hypothesis because there were too many variables that I did not take into consideration.

Competition history

• CSEF 2003 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry J1431

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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