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Watching them pecking at discarded French fries, it might be hard to imagine much potential for greatness in the average street pigeon.
But for practitioners of the sport of pigeon racing, which originated in Belgium in the early 1800s before coming to the United States later in the 19th century, these birds are the avian equivalent of marathon runners, according to the American Racing Pigeon Union.
Birds are bred for their homing instinct, speed and endurance. Like human athletes, they feed on a specific diet of carbohydrate- or fat-heavy seeds and grains to provide them energy for races covering as much as 1,000 miles, said David Stacy, who flew birds for 13 years with Chattanooga’s club.
The Chattanooga Racing Pigeon Club has been around at least since 1945, but some members said they think it actually originated in the 1920s. This year, the club’s membership swelled to 27, five more than last year, said Jerry Fitzke, the club’s race secretary and a 20-year racing veteran.
Alvin Petty, a member of the Chattanooga Racing Pigeon Club for 20 years, breeds his birds from a stock of about 200 housed in a barn near his Ooltewah home.
Although the sport may seem strange to outsiders, to those who race, it’s addictive, Mr. Petty said.
“They’re just incredible athletes,” he said. “The best thing is seeing them come home. We can’t afford horses, so we got pigeons.”
Because the only part of the race pigeon racers see is the return of the birds to their lofts, much of what happens during their flight is a mystery, including how they find their way home, Mr. Stacy said.
“(The homing ability is) a God-given thing, and they really don’t know how it works,” he said. “It’s a free-choice thing; it’s not something they’re made to do like training a walking horse with weights on its feet.”
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Hi,
I am pleased to announce that "The Pigeoneers" starring Col. Clifford A. Poutre, Chief Pigeoneer, U.S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service, 1936-1943 is now available.
Acknowledged the world's outstanding military pigeon expert, Poutre is credited with having streamlined the U. S. Army homing pigeon training and services to keep pace with the latest developments in army aviation. Poutre has taught his homers numerous tricks unprecedented in pigeon history-to be ready for day or night messenger duty, to return to a mobile pigeon loft which moves ten miles away after the pigeon departs and to carry a canary piggy-back from New Jersey to a loft on the rooftops in New York City.
Poutre enlisted as a Private in 1929, soon after, became a Pigeoneer stationed at the 11th Signal Company, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii until 1936. Poutre was then assigned to the lofts at Fort Monmouth, N.J. in the fall of 1936, working under the keen tutelage of Civilian Pigeoneer, Thomas Ross, a Scotsman who was one of the foremost pigeon experts in the world, and after his death, took over as head of the Pigeon Breeding and Training Center.
Poutre discarded the old "starvation" method of training pigeons in favor of a system of "kindness". Poutre's experiments have proved that homers will now come home because they want to, and not, as in World War 1, because they were hungry.
Poutre handled and cared for numerous World War I Hero Pigeons such as "Long John Silver" and "The Kaiser", the famous captured German war pigeon. Poutre also reminds us of the tremendous efforts of the British Pigeoneers, Lt. Col. A.H. Osman and Mr. J.W. Logan, Esq., and the British War Hero Pigeons during the Great World Wars.
Poutre kept army birds in training by racing them against civilian pigeons. One of the great Army racers was "Always Faithful", 1935 winner of a 720 mile race from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to his loft at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in the time of 15 hours 39 minutes and 9 seconds. An average speed of 1343.8 yards a minute. This tremendous win earned "Always Faithful" the Hall of Fame Cup and Medal from the American Racing Pigeon Union in 1935.
Poutre tossed the last bird in 1957 before the close-out of the Army Pigeon Service at Fort Monmouth, N.J. Colonel Poutre retired in 1960 as Commander, Signal Corps Supply Agency, Tobyhanna, P.A., after 31 years of loyal military service.
Join Colonel Clifford A. Poutre in “The Pigeoneers”, slow down, think, and remember.
"THE PIGEONEERS" RECOMMENDED BY CORNELL'S LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY'S PROJECT PIGEON WATCH
Please visit the website for "The Pigeoneers" film trailer and further details: www.pigeonsincombat.com
Kind regards,
Al Croseri
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