US Marines going into battle in Iraq will have state-of-the-art, $12,000 sensors to warn them of chemical or biological attack. They will also have $60 pigeons, that come with a cage and some bird seed. Supposedly, like the proverbial "canary in the coal mine," these hapless pigeons will give the soldiers an early warning of potentially harmful chemicals or biological agents. The marines admit they don't know the first thing about caring for birds (the article doesn't mention a thing about water for these birds that have been summarily transplanted to a desert), but they plan to learn. One fellow actually thought to place his bird in a shady spot. Good for him!

The problem, of course, is that the pigeons could die of any number of things, including things that wouldn't harm a human. Staff Seargeant Dan Wallace thinks the birds might be more useful than their electronic sensors in some conditions, for example if Iraqi forces blow up oil wells. But while electronics can be confused by smoke from fires, birds would just die. The marines were supposed to get chickens, but they died shortly after they got to the desert. No one knows why.

The article — U.S. Marines enlist pigeons to battle Iraqi gas (Reuters, March 14, 2003) — also points out that it isn't clear if "British forces would also get pigeons." My guess is that British forces know better. The BBC has a report from December 30, 1986 — part of their "On This Day" series, that describes phasing out the use of canaries in coal mines. The article states "New electronic detectors will replace the bird because they are said to be cheaper in the long run and more effective in indicating the presence of pollutants in the air otherwise unnoticed by miners." See 1986: Coal mine canaries made redundant for the article.

Update: The pigeon story has been picked up by a number of newspapers, many of which point out that the chickens already died. An article about the pigeons published in the Seattle Times shows that Wallace knows a bit more about taking care of birds than the first article indicated. For example, he knows that "the pigeons can't take the shock of constant bouncing" that they would recieve perched atop a Humvee.

Wallace also points out that the birds aren't an "early warning" sensor. He states, "if all the (birds) are dead and we have people getting runny noses and headaches, we'll know something is wrong....This is verification." Um...verification only if the chemical or biological agent affects birds the same way it does humans. See Bird of war: Now it's a pigeon for this article (3/15/03).

Another article (Pigeons to detect chemical attack) lists all the different tools the Marines have, along with the pigeons: "special chemical-sensitive tape and paper, a chemical agent monitoring machine, a packet filled with detection ampules, and a vehicle, the Fox, designed to take test samples while moving....They have gas masks belted to their hips at all times and have been trained to put them on in nine seconds with their eyes closed and while holding their breath....They have been issued with special camouflage suits with charcoal linings, rubber boots and gloves, atropine to counteract nerve gas, and packets of charcoal to deactivate any chemicals that may land on them." Who needs pigeons with all that?