Anyone know anything about racing pigeons from island to island?

I heard that people bet on birds flown to an island, by plane, with odds on which bird makes it back first after being released.

Is this for real or BS?

 

Hmmmmmm, did the snow come early to Alaska? Are you tired of being cooped up? j/k Seriously, I have never heard of anyone racing pidgeons from island to island. There is a lot of cock fighting which is illegal of course......

 

(sorry, couldn't help it)

 

Hey I caught your post.. Pigeon racing is all over the world. You can own one just like a race horse and yes there's some occasional betting. Check it out on the web. I'll bet you find there's a hard core bunch of pigeon racers in hawaii. If you want to own a bird talk to a breeder/racer. They'll sell you one for like $450 or up and h'es paid for including keep forever. You get winnings. Obviously successful racers are also valuable breeders...trendy eggs huh?

the brits race them around the caribbean too.

fltsfshr

 

these guys in pearl city use to race pigeons, then they turned it into a business, by dying the birds diffrent colors.

its called rainbow pigeons, they release them at weddings, graduations and stuff. so they just fly back home. kinda cool

 

hmmm, you learn something new everyday...

 

A pidgeon tried to race me once, he lost and there were feathers everywhere..........

 

Hey, wasn't that me driving and you were the passenger when we were at Chieh's BBQ? That bird was just too slow!

 

Yes that time it was you, but surely you cannot think I'd let you 'hunt' pidgeons alone .............

 

Thanks for the replies, I'd never heard of racing pigeons either until I flew through a flock of about 20 of 'em. 2 KIA for sure, and it sounded like multiple hits.

I was landing at HNL, and just after the nose came down on the runway, I looked up and there must have 20 birds in the way! They hit just above the cockpit windows, and missed the engines.

I reported it to the tower, and got a call from fish and game filling me in on the whole racing pidgeon thing. They found 2 ex-birds with microchips in them and bands on the feet.

So here is my bird count:

A Blue Heron at O'Hare in a 737 (in the left engine).

A Flock of Starlings leaving Auckland in a 747

And now, racing Pidgeons in a 777


I can see my new bumper sticker: "Real Men hunt Birds with Jets!"