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Doves and pigeons are put in the same family by
scientific experts. In this family are nearly
twelve hundred kinds of pigeons and their relatives.
They live in every continent except the cold Antarctic,
but mostly in the tropics where the largest and
most beautiful pigeons are found.
The United States has several kinds of native
pigeons, but home as farmed as the passenger pigeons
that once flew in huge flocks, covering the entire
sky. Today not a single passenger pigeon remains
alive. The uncontrolled hunting that killed them
off has been stopped, but the birds are gone forever.
The homing pigeon and all other tame pigeons are
descendants of wild bird, the common rock dove
of southern Europe, northern Africa and western
Asia. Perhaps the rock dove found it easier to
get food in grain fields and to nest on the rafters
of huts and barns. Pigeons can still be found
living in this half-tamed way, nesting on ledges
of buildings.
The domestic pigeon developed when man began to
feed and shelter pigeons. As people took more
interest in these birds, they bred them to produce
more desirable features. Some were developed into
heavy, meaty squabs that finally wound up up on
their dinner table. Others were selected and bred
for their beautiful or odd appearance. Finally,
since pigeons find their way home from distant
places, they have been bred for racing and carrying
messages
Racing homer
Racing homers, to give these birds their proper
name, are a fairly new variety, developed from
four or five breeds of European pigeons, each
with top homing ability. The result is a bird
that can wing its way home a thousand miles or
more.
The ability to return from great distances is
no unique gift of pigeons. Some birds return to
their exact nesting sites year after year. But
the homing of pigeons may be quite distinct from
the migration or return of wild birds in spring.
It is a problem is still being studied
The development of racing pigeons was began by
Belgians about 1700. At the first pigeon race
in 1732, the time for the three-mile course was
two and half hours. Modern homers can do a hundred
miles in less time than that, because amateurs
in England and America have steadily bred the
birds for stamina and for speed.
If you want to start raising your own racing homers,
begin with only one or two pairs of birds. Get
the finest birds you can afford, for nothing takes
place of sound, pedigreed breeding stock.
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