Purebred Pigeon Sept/October 2025

14 – Purebred PIGEON sleep securely on the perch. REFERENCES Rattenborg, N. C., C. J. Amlaner, and S. L. Lima. 2001. Unilateral eye closure and interhemispheric EEG asymmetry during sleep in the pigeon (Columba livia). Brain Behavior Evolution, 58 (6), 323-332. Skutch, A. 1989. Birds Asleep. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. Tisdale, R. K., J. A. Lesku, G. J. L. Beckers, A. L. Vyssots- ki, and N. C. Rattenborg. 2018. The low-down on sleeping down low: pigeons shift to lighter forms of sleep when sleeping near the ground. Journal of Experimental Biology, 221 (19), 182634. Ungurean, G., D. Martinez-Gonzalez, B. Massot, P. Libourel, and N. Rattenborg. 2021. Pupillary behavior during wake- fulness, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep in birds is opposite that of mammals. Current Biology, 31 (23), 5370-5376. Mike McKaig, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Speech Pathol- ogy at the University of Central Oklahoma. He got his first pigeons when he was six. Today he has homing pigeons, a breed he admires for its intelligence, athleticism, and stun- ning colors. Trent P. B. Smith is a high school student and visual artist in Edmond, Oklahoma.