---
title: Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city cliffs — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 221 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 4 of 11 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Pigeons: head bobbing, homing and city cliffs

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**Tests:** 4 of 11 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 8 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 221 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/).

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### Test 1 · right ✓ {#t1}

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«pigeon in the station keeps nodding its head like it's listening to music lol» What is really going on?

- **1.** It is bobbing to keep its balance while it stands on one leg — score 7
- **2.** Its head holds still at each step so its view stays steady — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 10
- **3.** It really is nodding along to the music in the station — score 3
- **4.** It is trying to shake off fleas — score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 221, line 9: «A pigeon drinks by sucking water up as if through a straw, without tipping its head back like most birds, so it can drink fast and keep watch.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same action «keep» (+3); the same doer «head» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t1/)

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### Test 2 · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Count them: 6 pigeons stand on a ledge. How many legs and how many wings?

- **1.** 12 legs and 6 wings — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 24 legs and 12 wings — no support
- **3.** 12 legs and 12 wings — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** 6 legs and 12 wings — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t2/)

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### Test 3 · right ✓ {#t3}

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«my mate reckons pigeons are just flying rats, they're gross» What is the best answer?

- **1.** Wrong, pigeons are the same as parrots — no support
- **2.** Unfair: they came from cliff doves and have lived with people for thousands of years — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 9
- **3.** Right, pigeons are a kind of rat — no support
- **4.** Right, pigeons carry every illness there is and are the dirtiest animals in any town — score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 221, line 13: «Calling pigeons rats with wings is unfair: they have lived alongside people for thousands of years, and people bred them on purpose.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t3/)

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### Test 4 · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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What would happen if you took a homing pigeon 300 kilometres away and let it go?

- **1.** It would most likely fly back to its own loft — **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** It would stay where it was let go — score 3
- **3.** It would follow the first car it saw — score 3
- **4.** It would fly to the nearest big city — **← Mova's choice** · score 7

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 221, line 3: «People have kept pigeons for thousands of years, for food, for racing and for carrying messages, because a homing pigeon taken far away will fly straight back…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «fly» (+4); the same doer «homing pigeon» (+3). The right option, 1, scored 6. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t4/)

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### Test 5 · right ✓ {#t5}

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In a cartoon a pigeon tips its head right back to gulp water like a hen. What is true?

- **1.** Real pigeons suck water up without lifting their heads — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8
- **2.** Pigeons never drink, they get all their water from bread — score 3
- **3.** Real pigeons drink exactly like hens do, tipping their heads back — score 8
- **4.** Pigeons drink only rainwater, catching drops from the air — score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 221, line 9: «A pigeon drinks by sucking water up as if through a straw, without tipping its head back like most birds, so it can drink fast and keep watch.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «suck up» (+3); the same thing acted on «water» (+3); the same doer «pigeon» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t5/)

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### Test 6 · right ✓ {#t6}

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«never seen a baby pigeon in my life, do they even exist» What is right?

- **1.** Yes, but they live only in the countryside, far away from towns — no support
- **2.** No, pigeons are made in factories — score 6
- **3.** No, pigeons lay eggs that hatch straight into grown-up birds — no support
- **4.** Yes, but the chicks hide in the nest until they are almost grown — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 221, line 10: «Baby pigeons are rarely seen because the chicks stay hidden in the nest until they are almost grown; both parents feed them a special crop milk.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hide» (+3); the same doer «chicks» (+2); the same place «nest» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t6/)

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### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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A girl feeds the same pigeons every day; a boy chases them. Next week, what might the pigeons do?

- **1.** Treat both children the same way — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Follow the boy because he is fast — no support
- **3.** Forget both of them by the next day — no support
- **4.** Come to the girl and fly off from the boy — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t7/)

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### Test 8 · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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«loads of crumbs for all the pigeons, the more the better yeah?» What is best?

- **1.** No, pigeons hate bread and never eat it, they only eat seeds — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Yes, bread makes pigeons cleaner — no support
- **3.** No, too much food makes too many pigeons and spreads illness — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Yes, pigeons need bread every day to stay healthy — no support

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**Why:** Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t8/)

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### Test 9 · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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Count them: a pair of pigeons has 2 chicks in the nest. How many beaks and how many feet altogether?

- **1.** 4 beaks and 16 feet — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 2 beaks and 8 feet — no support
- **3.** 4 beaks and 8 feet — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** 4 beaks and 4 feet — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t9/)

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### Test 10 · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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What would a pigeon most likely use as a nest site if a town had no buildings?

- **1.** The top of a tall grass stem — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** A hole dug in the ground — no support
- **3.** A floating nest on a lake — no support
- **4.** A ledge on a cliff, like its wild ancestors — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t10/)

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### Test 11 · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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«heard a pigeon saved soldiers in a war, that's made up surely» What is right?

- **1.** It is a made-up film story — no support
- **2.** It is true; Cher Ami carried a message that helped save nearly two hundred soldiers — **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **3.** It is half true; pigeons fought in wars, but only with tiny swords tied on — score 4
- **4.** It is made up, because only dogs ever carried messages in wars — **← Mova's choice** · score 8

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 221, line 7: «Homing pigeons can find their way back to their loft from hundreds of kilometres away; in the First World War a pigeon called Cher Ami carried a message that h…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «first world war» (+4); the same action «carry» (+3); the same thing acted on «message» (+3). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, scored 5. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Identify the principal reason for which the head of the pigeon appears to move rhythmically during locomotion.

- **1.** The head is held stationary during each step, thereby stabilising the visual field — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** The movement constitutes a response to audible rhythm — no support
- **3.** The movement results from a deficiency in the musculature of the neck, common to all pigeons — no support
- **4.** The head is propelled forward to assist the motion of the body — score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 34, line 6: «Motorway verges are rarely mown, so they are full of voles; a kestrel flaps into the wind at the wind's own speed and keeps its head still to watch for voles,…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «keep» (+3); the same thing acted on «head» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the ancestry of the urban pigeon?

- **1.** It is descended from the wood pigeon of deciduous forests — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It is descended from gulls domesticated in harbours — no support
- **3.** It is a species which originated within cities and has no wild ancestor — no support
- **4.** It is descended from the rock dove, a species nesting upon sea cliffs — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the drinking behaviour of the pigeon.

- **1.** Water is scooped and swallowed by elevation of the head — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Water is obtained solely from food and never drunk — no support
- **3.** Water is drawn upward by suction without elevation of the head — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Water is absorbed exclusively through the skin — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Ascertain the reason for which the young of the pigeon are seldom observed by the public.

- **1.** The young remain concealed within the nest until nearly fully grown — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The young are reared exclusively beneath the ground — **← Mova's choice** · score 6
- **3.** The young are hatched in a fully adult condition — no support
- **4.** The young are removed at hatching by human keepers and reared in lofts — score 4

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 73, line 2: «If some of those differences help an animal survive and raise more young, the next generation has a little more of them, and over thousands of generations smal…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «raise» (+3); the same thing acted on «young» (+3). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/221-pigeons-head-bobbing-homing-and-city-cliffs/e4/)

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- ← previous: [220. Spiders and other minibeasts under logs and stones](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/220-spiders-and-other-minibeasts-under-logs-and-stones/)
- next →: [222. Rats and mice in the city, and the elephant and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/222-rats-and-mice-in-the-city-and-the-elephant-and-mouse-myth/)
- ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)