"This is quite an extraordinary film. It not only tells the story of Col. Clifford Poutre but it contains voluminous old film clips of homing pigeons in war. For these reasons alone, this is an important film. The late Col. Poutre was obviously a charming man with a deep love of pigeons. He makes the case that this kind of affection is essential for really outstanding performance from your birds. As he tells his life story interwoven with pictures of the Army pigeon corps it makes a compelling documentary. In addition, he tells of a variety of interesting experiments that he performed. I think particularly of the idea of a mobile pigeon loft that could be moved from place to place, the training of pigeons to fly at night in both Hawaii and New York City and the problems that New York City lights caused. He describes training pigeons to fly over water for 100 to 200 miles and how his pigeons avoided flying over mountains. He describes the behavior of pigeons released from high buildings homing to a mobile loft at Rockefeller Center and how they simply folded their wings and dove for the loft." Charles Walcott, Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Dr. Walcott is a renowned homing pigeon navigation expert and was the head of the pigeon research lab/lofts at Cornell University. Dr. Walcott famously followed homing pigeons in a single engine plane, tracking their flight routes to study their navigation patterns.

"The Pigeoneers is a love story between man and bird. After viewing Alessandro Croseri's sentimental documentary, there can be no doubt that Col. Clifford A. Poutre loved the many pigeons that he bred and trained for carrier service in WWII. By both word and deed, Col. Poutre treated his pigeons as though they were human family members, children, buddies. He believed in control through kindness. He saw pigeons as intelligent beings which would fly better if they trusted him. He accorded his birds real respect and even reverence. He reveled in their racing and military achievements and he mourned their loss in warfare and culling." Dr. Edward A. Wasserman, Stuit Professor of Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Delta Center, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Dr. Wasserman's Pigeon Research * Amodal completion of moving objects by pigeons * UI Research Shows Pigeons And People See Eye To Eye * Pigeons and people use the same visual cues * Pigeons categorize photographs of cats, flowers, cars, and chairs * Pigeons recognize human faces

"Last night I watched The Pigeoneers with my wife, an historian. She referred to the footage as "a primary historical document" because it codifies a rare and forgotten history-- that of the use of pigeons during warfare. Remarkablely, the tale is told by a 103-year-old colonel dressed to the nines in military regalia. He's the real deal because he was the "go to" guy in developing pigeons as instruments of war. The story is warm, interesting and, of course, historical. This movie is surely of interest to pigeon fanciers, military historians, or just to those who find listening to a fascinating tale a good way to pass the afternoon." Dr. Alan Silberberg, Professor of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC