I first became aware of photography by birds when I acquired a well-used copy of Pigeon Heroes by Marion B. Cothren, with a copyright date of 1944.
The book's foreward carries impressive credentials:
and here is the relevant passage from Page 14:
This picture is from Page 16:
We always have a few pigeons hanging around our back porch, attracted by spilled birdseed from a feeder there. I haven't yet seen any pigeons toting cameras, but I'll try to pay closer attention.
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Bird photography first took off in 1907 thanks to the efforts of a German pharmacist who had some previous experience the delivering prescriptions using carrier pigeons. His success in this accomplishment was particularly impressive given the fact that the primary photographic medium of the time consisted of glass plates coated with a light-sensitive emulsion. In fact, doubts about the feasibility of such an endeavor resulted in a rejection of the initial patent application. That was overcome by the submission of certified images from the bird-borne cameras.
All the warring parties in both WWI and WWII took an interest in developing the potential of bird photography for intelligence gathering. In the post-war years the CIA developed a pigeon-based program, but the results of that effort remain classified except for a stuffed pigeon with camera in the agency museum.
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| Loose lips sink ships. |
As might be expected, bird photography has been significantly advanced by computerized miniaturization of the photographic gear. That is well-illustrated on Youtube by a BBC production featuring eagles, hawks and falcons outfitted with video cameras which transmit their images by microwave.
All of the above is well-documented in the Pigeon Photography wikipedia article.
