Pigeon racing

Pigeon racing is a sport that uses homing pigeons. It is also called pigeon flying. The sport involves training, racing, and breeding the birds. Millions of people worldwide participate in the sport. While it is losing some ground in the traditional stronghold of Europe, pigeon racing has become increasingly popular in Asia.

Pigeons are trained to fly from a starting point to their home loft. When they are released at the starting point, they return to their home loft and enter through trapdoors. Practice involves multiple releases from various distances. The birds are banded before release. A starter begins the race, noting the time, as the birds fly up and orient themselves. When the pigeons enter their home lofts, the leg bands are removed and recorded by timers. Speed is calculated by dividing flight distance by the time a bird took to arrive.

Millions of fanciers, or those who race pigeons, participate in the sport annually. Thousands of competitions take place around the globe. The world governing body oversees both world championships and the Pigeon Olympiad, as well as numerous Grand Prix events.

Background

Pigeon domestication dates to at least the fifth Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 BCE. A pigeon-post system was in use in Baghdad in 1150 CE. Genghis Khan (1162–1227) also sent messages by pigeon. Pigeons were used to deliver messages in Europe during the Revolution of 1848, among other conflicts reaching well into the twentieth century. The fowl were routinely sent on flights of 1,000 miles (1,600km), although the world record is held by a US Army Signal Corps pigeon that flew 2,300 miles (3,700 km).

The sport of pigeon racing began in Belgium. The first long-distance race of more than 100 miles (160 km) was held in 1818. The next event of note took place two years later between Paris and Liège. While the sport became popular in France, Great Britain, and the United States during the late nineteenth century, its stronghold remained in Belgium. Most villages had pigeon clubs that organized races, and the nation followed the Belgian Concours National, which was instituted in 1881. The race of about 470 miles (750km) was from Toulouse to Brussels.

The world governing body is the Fédération Colombophile Internationale (FCI) headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. It was established in 1937, and two years later held the first international exhibition. Ten nations participated in the event. The FCI established Biannual Racing Pigeon Olympiads in 1949. In 2019 the organization boasted more than 4.3 million members worldwide.

Overview

Race rules may vary between organizations and countries. In general, fanciers must deliver the birds to a shipping site prior to the race, so each bird can be outfitted with an official race countermark or leg band. Once all identifying numbers are checked, the birds are placed in shipping crates and transported as a group to the race release point, which is used to calculate the overall aerial distance of the flight. Birds are fed and watered, and generally given time to calm down after transport. Pigeon fanciers should ensure birds see some daylight prior to each release, especially the location of the sun. This helps them orient themselves properly.

Meanwhile, clocks are set using the club’s preferred choice, such as GPS or an atomic clock. The birds are released simultaneously. They are clocked in when they reach the home loft. A race may last several days, based on the distance and number of birds entered. For example, a one-day race may be permitted to last up to forty-eight hours, a window that allows a large percentage of birds to complete the race by arriving at their home lofts. A race official may be called on to determine when enough birds have clocked in to complete the race. When the race has been declared finished, clocks are opened and the winners are calculated by race officials. The speed of a bird may be reported in yards per minute or meters per minute, as rules decree.

Average speed competitions involve entering birds in every scheduled average speed race in a set distance or division. Birds must finish every race and be clocked in. Winners are based on the calculations of speeds from the various races.

Races may involve a variety of distances. Events may be long distance or middle distance, for example. Birds may also be eligible to be entered in marathons, which are based on the combined speeds of several races.

Many bird breeders also train race pigeons. When young birds fledge, they are given time to leave the home loft and fly freely. This is called ranging or routing, a time when they gain strength and learn to find their way home. The young birds may be out for several hours. The trainer may give them several weeks of ranging and routing before taking them out for a release, or training toss. Training should be conducted in good weather—dry, low wind, good visibility. The trainer takes the young bird to a release location for which he knows the distance from the loft—for example, two miles—and conducts the training toss. By measuring the time it takes for the bird to enter the home loft, the trainer calculates the bird’s speed. The trainer may follow with a rest day for the bird, then conduct a training toss from the same distance. Subsequent training tosses will likely be from increasingly large distances—for example, four miles, eight miles, ten miles, and so on. Trainers may choose to conduct two training tosses at each distance before advancing to a longer distance, or if a bird is not performing well, scale back to a shorter distance and try again. Birds should always be fed and watered prior to release and should be given rest days between training days.

Bibliography

“Armando the Racing Pigeon Sells for Record $1.4 Million.” CBS News, 19 Mar. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/armando-racing-pigeon-auction-belgium-for-record-million-dollars/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2019.

Bodio, Stephen. Aloft: A Meditation on Pigeons & Pigeon-Flying. Skyhorse, 2014.

Dillow, Clay. “How Homing Pigeons Find Their Way Home.” Popular Science, 1 Feb. 2013, www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/geologist-has-probably-figured-out-how-homing-pigeons-find-their-way-home/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2019.

“Home.” Fédération Colombophile Internationale, 2019, pigeonsfci.org. Accessed 22 Aug. 2019.

“Rules and Regulations.” American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc., 2019, www.pigeon.org/rulesregulations.htm. Accessed 21 Aug. 2019.

“Short History.” Fédération Colombophile Internationale, 2019, pigeonsfci.org/short-history/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2019.

“Show of the Year.” Royal Pigeon Racing Association, 2019, www.rpra.org/show-of-the-year/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2019.

“Training Racing Pigeons.” Speed Pigeon Breeders, www.speedpigeon.com/training‗racing‗pigeons.htm. Accessed 21 Aug. 2019.