Pigeons sniff their way home with right nostril

Pigeons can find their way home from hundreds of miles - an ability that fascinates scientists and has led to their use in carrying messages and even smuggling drugs.
Now, researchers in Italy, say they have shown how much the birds rely on one of their nostrils to "sniff" their way around.
The team report in the Journal of Experimental Biology, that pigeons with a blocked right nostril were unable to create the "map of smells" that guides them on their journey.
Homing pigeons are the domesticated relatives of wild rock doves , which have an innate ability to find their way back to their own nest over long distances.