Biological Drones of the Early 20th Century.

Julius Neubronner was a German apothecary during the 20th century who had two very different hobbies. Those hobbies were photography, and homing pigeons.

Julius would often use his homing pigeons to fly deliveries of medications to his patients.

Occasionally, some of Julius's pigeons would go missing for weeks at a time while on deliveries, but would eventually arrive well fed and healthy.

He got curious, and began devising methods to attach his cameras to his birds.

By 1908 he was granted a patient for his invention.

Neubronner released his pigeons over southern Germany, and captured the unique birds-eye-view perspective.

Julius sold postcards of his photography at the Frankfurt International Aviation in 1910 and 1911. Eventually, his invention gathered the interest of the military in the build up to WW1.

With the outbreak of war in 1914, Neubronner's pigeons were seized by Prussian authorities to contribute to the war effort.

The pigeons proved useful as they were unfazed by the flying shells and explosions. The camera-armed pigeons delivered detailed pictures of the battlefield taken from a relatively low height. These photos provided good intel to the military.

Since these "drones" were sentient biological creatures, it was difficult to get a photo of a specific designated area. Also, with the ever-changing battlefield, sometimes the "home" for the pigeons would be moved, and it would take time for them to adjust.

By mid-way through the war, aircraft development had come very far, and pigeon photography seemed like more of a hassle than it was worth.

After the war, Neubronner inquired to the military on the use of his pigeons. The authorities responded by describing the pigeons as having "no military value".

Methods of remote sensing have massively evolved over the last century. Neubronner's pigeons were an interesting and important step in the progression of collecting geospatial information.

The amount of information available to us today as a result of building drones, satellites, and hi-tech aircraft is immense. it is very cool to see where we came from and where we are headed technology wise.

I wonder which ideas of the present we will be building off of into the future.

During World War 2, Soviet authorities discovered a German truck full of pigeon cameras, and dogs trained to carry the pigeons. Although no information exists on the use of reconnaissance pigeons during ww2.

The CIA has developed a battery powered pigeon camera. Although the details on its mechanisms and use are still classified.