Homing pigeons are specially trained for competitive use of their natural ability to navigate (back, home) in flight, which in Cher Ami's case saved near 200 allied troop lives in the Great War. Studies slowly unravel their impressive set of methods, including orientation by sun or moon, earth magnetism and memorizing landmarks. The Ancient Egyptians venerated the scarab, believing his east-west rolling of dung balls imitates the sun god Cephti rolling the sun back daily. They belong to a family of dung-beetles, where one in ten arrives early at a rich dropping and prevents being robbed by evacuating a rich portion to bury. Rolling back, with eyes specially split to look both down and up, they manage to roll away in a remarkably straight line, albeit often not E-W. They too navigate by sun or moon and reset their bearings having to avoid an obstacle by way of an orientation dance on the ball.
—KGF Vissers