Winging it!
The much-maligned pigeon is one of the smartest birds in the world
Maybe they’re not just bird brains after all.
Pigeon racing has existed for centuries in every corner of the globe with Canadian Racing Pigeon Union clubs in Okanagan, B.C., Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Nova Scotia, just to name a few.
The Calgary Racing Pigeon club was established in 1906 and has 300 current members hosting races that span as far as B.C.
“They’re probably one of the smartest birds in the world,” Calgary Racing Pigeon Club president David Mcknop told CTV.
“They get boxed up in crates and taken hundreds of miles in a trailer and let out there and they fly back.”
It isn’t as cheap as you might think.
Racers often have their own specially built lofts for the pigeons to stay in while not competing. Equipment required for timing the birds can cost up to $800, with the birds themselves ranging from $50 to $1,000 apiece.
The most expensive pigeon ever sold was a Belgian champion-bred bird named Armando, selling for USD$1.42 million in March
The world’s fastest pigeon, appropriately named Bolt was clocked at an impressive 157 km/h.
Despite the history and worldwide support of the sport, pigeon racing has been banned in Chicago since 2004 over concerns about droppings, though there have been several attempts to reinstate the sport.
Pigeon racing has been criticized for the treatment of the animals, with accusations the sport is too dangerous for the birds to regularly participate in.
Hazards including buildings, electrical lines and birds of prey are constant threats to the pigeons.
A 2012 investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that in some races 60 per cent of birds get lost or are killed.
Races where a small number of birds return to their carrier are known as “smash races.”
One smash race in Queens, N.Y. had only four out of 213 birds make it to the finish., PETA said.
Mcknop says the Calgary Racing Pigeon Club used to participate in the Calgary Stampede, but the space they were on was destroyed in a flood a few years ago.
The club’s birds have seven more races before the season ends, finishing with the 560 km Alberta Open on Sept. 27.
The sport has a monthly magazine, Canadian Pigeon International, with all the pigeon-racing information and news any avid fan could ever want.
Perhaps the international capital of pigeon racing is Poland. The country’s Pigeon Breeders Association has more than 40,000 members.
The city of Poznan hosted the 36th Pigeon Olympiad from Jan. 25-27.
But some other clubs across the world are starting to lose members as young people are less interested in joining pigeon racing, though there are still those who discover the sport and connect with it. One young Calgarian is taking up the torch from her father.
“Pigeons are sweet,” said 14-year-old Alisar Alnahawi. “People I know when I mention my pigeons they’re like ‘oh street rats’ you know, but they aren’t street rats. They’re amazing.”