Exploring the Role of the Dove in Intelligent Design: Navigational Precision and Contributions During World Wars
Keywords:
Intelligent Design, Navigational Precision, Symbolism, Wartime CommunicationAbstract
The Dove, emblematic of peace, has long captured human fascination, not only for its symbolic associations but also for its remarkable navigational abilities, which defy natural explanations. This paper seeks to explore the Dove’s role within the framework of intelligent design, highlighting its exceptional direction-finding skills and its contributions during the two World Wars. The study adopts a qualitative approach, utilizing historical case studies, literature analysis, and a comparative examination of avian behaviour to investigate whether the Dove’s navigational precision points to an intelligent cause rather than an undirected evolutionary process. The concept of intelligent design asserts that certain natural features, such as the Dove's ability to navigate vast distances with precision, suggest the involvement of an intelligent creator. This study emphasizes the strategic use of pigeons (close relatives of the Pegion) during World War I and World War II, where their navigational abilities were pivotal in delivering critical messages across enemy lines. Despite technological setbacks, pigeons succeeded in missions where human efforts failed, further reinforcing the argument for intelligent design in their biological makeup. The study argue that the Dove’s navigational prowess is not merely a product of natural evolution, but rather a testament to purposeful, intelligent design. This paper concludes by reflecting on how the complexity of the Dove’s navigation system challenges the evolutionary paradigm and aligns with the principles of intelligent design, offering a unique perspective on nature and the design of life.
References
Behe, M. J. (1996). Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. Simon and Schuster.
Bingman, V. P. (2011). Making the Case for the Intelligence of Avian Navigation. In R. Menzel & J. Fischer (Eds.), Animal Thinking: Contemporary Issues in Comparative Cognition (Vol. 8). The MIT Press. https://direct.mit.edu/books/edited-volume/2188/chapter/58050/Making-the-Case-for-the-Intelligence-of-Avian
Bingman, V. P. (2018). Requiem for a heavyweight – can anything more be learned from homing pigeons about the sensory and spatial-representational basis of avian navigation? Journal of Experimental Biology, 221(20), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.163089
Blondheim, M., & Rosenberg, H. (2024). Nature’s Apostle: The Dove as Communicator in the Hebrew Bible, from Ararat to Nineveh. Religions, 15(4), 502. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040502
Bonadonna, F., & Gagliardo, A. (2021). Not only pigeons: Avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 33(3), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1871967
Burleigh, R. (2008). Fly, Cher Ami, Fly!: The Pigeon Who Saved the Lost Battalion. Harry N. Abrams.
Clifton-Morekis, A. S. (2021). Front-line Fowl: Messenger Pigeons as Communications Technology in the U.S. Army. History and Technology, 37(2), 203–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/07341512.2021.1898896
Corera, G. (2018). Operation Columba--The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe (First U.S). William Morrow.
Coulter, D. (2024, January 10). Bible Study: Genesis 8. Medium. https://medium.com/@coulter.daniel/bible-study-genesis-8-366030b830c3
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th edition). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Demšar, U., Zein, B., & Long, J. A. (2025). A new data-driven paradigm for the study of avian migratory navigation. Movement Ecology, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00543-8
Gagliardo, A. (2013). Forty years of olfactory navigation in birds. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 216(Pt 12), 2165–2171. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.070250
Gagliardo, A., Pollonara, E., & Wikelski, M. (2020). Pigeons remember visual landmarks after one release and rely upon them more if they are anosmic. Animal Behaviour, 166, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.05.009
Gn, S., Hleza, S., Tlou, F., Shonhiwa, S., & Mathonsi, E. (2021). Qualitative Content Analysis, Utility, Usability and Processes in Educational Research. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 5(7), 553–558.
Hagstrum, J. (2013). An infrasound-based avian navigational “map.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 133(5), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4806216
Hokanson, B. K. (2018). Saving Grace on Feathered Wings: Homing Pigeons in the First World War. The Gettysburg Historical Journal, 17(7), 83–98.
Holland, R. A. (2014). True navigation in birds: From quantum physics to global migration. Journal of Zoology, 293(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12107
Kipping, M., Wadhwani, R. D., & Bucheli, M. (2013). Analyzing and Interpreting Historical Sources: A Basic Methodology. In M. Bucheli & R. D. Wadhwani (Eds.), Organizations in Time: History, Theory, Methods (pp. 305–329). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.003.0013
Livnat, A. (2013). Interaction-based evolution: How natural selection and nonrandom mutation work together. Biology Direct, 8, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6150-8-24
Luskin, C. (2021, February 25). The Top Six Lines of Evidence for Intelligent Design. Discovery Institute. https://www.discovery.org/a/sixfold-evidence-for-intelligent-design/
Macalaster, E. G. (2020). War Pigeons: Winged Couriers in the U.S. Military, 1878-1957. McFarland.
Machin, D., & Abousnnouga, G. (2013). The Language of War Monuments. A&C Black.
Morgan, J. M. (2020). Is Intelligent Design the Answer to Darwinism? Marcos Eberlin’s Foresight and the Limits of Irreducible Complexity as Scientific Paradigm. Scientia et Fides, 8(2), 393–402. https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2020.027
Mouritsen, H. (2022). Magnetoreception in birds and its use for long-distance migration∗. In C. G. Scanes & S. Dridi (Eds.), Sturkie’s Avian Physiology (7th ed., pp. 233–256). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819770-7.00040-2
Nicol, J. (1945). The Homing Ability of the Carrier Pigeon Its Value in Warfare. The Auk, 62(2), 286–298. https://doi.org/10.2307/4079708
O’Connor, B. (2018). Bletchley Park and the Pigeon Spies. Lulu.com.
Peng, C., Luo, Z., Guo, L., & Zhu, Y. (2025). The impact of war on animal welfare: The Imperial Japanese Navy’s manipulation of pigeon behavior in WW II. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04397-8
Potter, M. (2022). Cher Ami: Based on the World War I Legend of the Fearless Pigeon. Little, Brown.
Schneider, W. T., Holland, R. A., & Lindecke, O. (2023). Over 50 years of behavioural evidence on the magnetic sense in animals: What has been learnt and how? The European Physical Journal Special Topics, 232(2), 269–278. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-022-00755-8
Schultz-Figueroa, B. (2019). Project Pigeon: Rendering the War Animal through Optical Technology. Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 58(4), 92–111.
Shao, Y., Tian, H.-Y., Zhang, J.-J., Kharrati-Koopaee, H., Guo, X., Zhuang, X.-L., Li, M.-L., Nanaie, H. A., Dehghani Tafti, E., Shojaei, B., Reza Namavar, M., Sotoudeh, N., Oluwakemi Ayoola, A., Li, J.-L., Liang, B., Esmailizadeh, A., Wang, S., & Wu, D.-D. (2020). Genomic and Phenotypic Analyses Reveal Mechanisms Underlying Homing Ability in Pigeon. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 37(1), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz208
Smith, A. (2024). Flight through Time: On Dove Navigation, Evolution and Symbolism. Journal of Big History, 7(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v7i4.7406
Snyders, H. (2015). 'More Than Just Human Heroes’ the Role of the Pigeon in the First World War. ResearchGate, 43(2), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.5787/43-2-1127
Stachowski, S. (2022). Route navigation in homing pigeons (Columba livia): The use of visual cues over a familiar area. [Master’s Thesis]. Bangor University.
Wallraff, H. G. (2005). Avian Navigation: Pigeon Homing as a Paradigm. Springer Science & Business Media.
Wallraff, H. G. (2014). Pigeon homing from unfamiliar areas. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 7(1), e28565. https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.28565
Wiltschko, R. (2012). Navigation without technical aids: How pigeons find their way home. European Journal of Navigation, 10(2), 22–31.
Wiltschko, R., & Wiltschko, W. (2013). The magnetite-based receptors in the beak of birds and their role in avian navigation. Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 199(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-012-0769-3
Wiltschko, W., & Wiltschko, R. (2017). Homing pigeons as a model for avian navigation? Journal of Avian Biology, 48(1), 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01270
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Alupe University Multidisciplinary Research Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.