An Introduction to the Art of Racing Pigeons

Throughout time, man has had relationships with animals. Relationships that have served in every conceivable form, from agriculture to law enforcement, but none has been more interesting, enjoyable or controversial than that of the pigeon. To most outside the sport of pigeon racing, the pigeon represents a creature that beguiles filth and disease. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The pigeon, racing pigeons in particular are animals that have been bred through time to carry various genetic traits that overshadow those of the common pigeon. The most distinct and highly bred quality is that of the ability to navigate back home from hundreds of miles, also known as homing. No one really understands how racing pigeons are able to navigate from areas they have never been exposed to. Some schools of thought theorize that that the racing pigeon uses magnetic fields from the earth, while others speculate that racing pigeons use the sun to navigate. Yet racing pigeons get home with relative ease on cloudy and overcast days. The next trait that most racing pigeon breeders try to enhance is that of speed and endurance. Most well trained racers can travel 600 miles in one day, at a sustained speed of 45 to 50 mph. That is a feat that most if not all common pigeons are incapable of doing. As a matter of fact, very few birds in general with the exception of migratory birds can accomplish such acts of speed and endurance.

To better understand the art of racing pigeons we must first start with how the sport is organized what exactly is a pigeon race. A definition in its simplest form would be birds flying from point A to point B but it is unfortunately a little more complicated than that. All racing pigeons must be registered and marked with a permanent leg band representing either the American Racing Pigeon Union (AU), or the International Federation of Racing Pigeons (IF). These bands which are placed on the bird on there 5th to 7th day of life have a serial number and the year the bird was banded associating the bird and owner of the bird to that particular organization. Next, all members of such organizations are members of sub-affiliate groups that are known as clubs. These clubs follow strict guidelines and by laws of their parent organization which sanction such races. Only members of such organizations and clubs are then allowed to race. The next procedure to be addressed is that of each members home loft. This is were the racing birds will fly when released on race day. Each loft is surveyed by a surveying company and all statistics pertaining to air miles for each individual loft is recorded by the club. This in a sense allows for one starting line but many different finish lines. So how is a racing pigeon declared a winner? Since each bird is flying to different lofts along the race course, some birds will obviously fly further than others. Therefore, each bird is placed in accordance to the distance flown and how fast that bird flew that distance. So in essence, each bird is competing based on speed not so much distance. The race season is broken up into two distinct classes, young bird races which take place in the fall involve birds born from January to June of that year, and old bird races which take place in the spring involve birds born at any time.

To further compliment the "Art of Pigeon Racing" we will discuss the care and training of these avian athletes. All racing pigeons are housed in what is known as a racing loft. This is a place that racing pigeons call home. A racing loft does not need to be very elaborate, racing pigeons are very hardy animals and do not know if they live in a palace. Racing lofts range from $60,000 cooled and heated buildings, to a rabbit hutch with 4 walls. What is essential to a pigeons housing, is that it be dry and free of drafts. The greatest problem for a racing bird is to be wet and cold.

The Training of a racing pigeon begins roughly within the first month of life. This is when the bird is moved to a young bird loft to associate with what will soon be his racing team. The young bird is then taught to trap train. Traps are what are used to enter the loft. These are simply hanging bob wires that allow the bird to enter the loft but not to return outside. while the young birds are trap training and learning to enter the loft, they are are also being homed to their new surroundings. This is the most important process in the young birds training because those particular surroundings will be ingrained as home for the rest of the birds life. Once the young birds have been taught to trap properly and have homed for several weeks they are ready to be released. This is the most apprehensive time for both the young bird and the fancier because no one can predict what is going to happen. Nine times out of ten the birds are just happy to sit around the loft and take practice flights of about 10 ft. but every now and then something startles the birds or you have that adventurous bird that is overly anxious and an overfly occurs . An overfly is when young inexperienced birds venture farther than there memory or stamina allow and they become lost. Almost every fancier has experienced this and great steps are taken to prevent them. Now that this future team is flying around the loft, the fancier waits for his team to begin routing. Routing is when the birds are gone from 30 minutes to an hour and completely out of sight from the area of their loft. This is when the young birds are learning the area and strengthening their muscles. Once the young birds have been routing for several weeks, the process of crate and road training begins. Road and crate training is how a team of pigeons are prepared to compete. First the fancier must get his team accustomed to the being in the crate. This is done by constantly placing the birds in the crate for extended periods of time. Once the young bird team is accustomed to the crate, they are ready for their first training toss. Usually this done at 3 to 5 miles every other day for a week eventually working to reach 50 to 100 miles.

This article was intended to introduce a basic understanding of the sport of pigeon racing, i hope you found this article informative and helpful.