By Jason Blevins - The Denver Post

The white-winged pigeon had flown 150 miles when it finally landed atop its home in Wayne Rozendaal's backyard.

"Come on now. Get on inside," says Rozendaal, checking his watch. "Many, many a race has been lost on the roof."

As if hearing his owner's plea, the bird squeezes through a tiny one-way gate, where a scanner reads a computerized chip in the pedigreed pigeon's leg band.

A quick calculation shows the bird â?? one of about 1,100 released by the Foothills Racing Pigeon Club a little more than three hours earlier in Burlington â?? had flown home at about 41 mph.

"Pretty fast," Rozendaal says with a shrug. "If he keeps it up, he could be a champion."

There are six racing-pigeon clubs in Colorado, most dating to the 1960s. While the venerable sport â?? its roots trace back to ancient Greece â?? has not seen robust growth in the past four decades, it remains vibrant.

The state's roughly 150 fliers, known as fanciers, race thousands of homing pigeons in 20 weekend races every year.

"I do it with my kids, and we get to see the benefits of our work every time we see our birds come home," said Tim Calerich, a Brighton racer with a 250-bird loft whose passion for pigeons was seeded by his late father.

The sport got a bit of a boost last week, when Boulder County zoning leaders categorized pigeons as pets, ending an argument raised by neighbors of a Gunbarrel pigeon racer.

Those neighbors, irked by fancier Jim Williams' 35-bird backyard loft, argued he was raising poultry, violating zoning codes against residential livestock.

Denver's zoning codes consider pigeons "household animals" and allow for lofts of up to 25 birds.

In the U.S., where there are about 15,000 registered racing-pigeon lofts, racing has remained a hobby, whereas in Europe or Taiwan, contest purses rival American horse racing. Breeders here can sell a race-proven champion for several thousand dollars, but most birds trade for a few hundred or less.

"It used to be the sport of kings," said Al Christeleit, a nationally recognized pigeon racer from Gypsum. "It's amazing when you raise a bird from an egg and watch it race 500 miles in a single day. It's a real sense of accomplishment."

Every flier gets the same age-old question from kids and newcomers: How do pigeons know the way home?

The birds are trucked in crates across open plains in the middle of the night and released shortly after dawn in areas they've never visited. Circling up from the release, they'll take a couple of short laps and then, invariably, fly straight home for hundreds of miles at speeds that can top 70 mph. How?

"God has kept that little secret locked up," Rozendaal said.

While the source of a pigeon's uncanny sense of direction remains something of a mystery, fanciers have strong ideas about what makes a pigeon fly faster. Breeding, training and diet have reached an art form for most racers.

"You might have strains that are better suited to shorter distances and faster speeds and some for longer distances," said Deone Roberts with the American Racing Pigeon Union. "It's all about finding that individual bird that separates itself from the group."

Animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently turned on pigeon racing, which will be featured in an upcoming cable series starring former pugilist Mike Tyson and his racing birds. The group thinks it's cruel to make birds fly long distances for sport and has piggybacked Tyson's planned show with announcements trumpeting their angst.

"Those people are crazy," Christeleit said. "These birds are taken care of better than some humans."

The biggest threat to racing pigeons is other birds. Hawks and even owls can terrorize racers, and some pigeons return to their lofts scarred from encounters with the winged predators. Rozendaal has seen his birds hobble home with crooked wings and broken legs, which seem to heal with rest.

"Their metabolism is something I can't comprehend," he said, cradling one of his racers. "They are amazing animals, that's for sure."

by Gareth Watkins

A loft profile on John Wills and his family of long distance racers


Most modern day fanciers are quite content to breed, feed and race pigeons on a short term basis, with no thought to putting down roots and building a family of winning pigeons that can stand the test of time. However, there are still a number of top class fanciers who, when selecting their initial stock, were conscious that the job in hand would be a long term project and set out with the objective to build for the future. Fanciers such as the late Peter Titmuss, Eric Cannon and Fear Brothers as well as the present day aces Geoff Cooper, Brian Denney, Jim Donaldson and the Bush family spring easily to mind as fanciers who set out with firm objectives. The above named are all top class, highly successful long distance fanciers who built their success on the firm foundations of a strong family of related pigeons which have been consistently successful at the distance. John Wills, the subject of this article, can also be classed alongside the aforementioned aces, as he has developed a truly outstanding FAMILY of long distance racers which has been winning top prizes in hard long distance Classic and National races for more than three decades. This long term success can, in turn, be traced back to pigeons that were winning long distance races at the turn of the 20th Century, and which formed the basis of the present day Wills family of pigeons.

It could be said that John Wills was “weaned on pigeon milk” as he was racing pigeons into the London area with his father from the time he took his first steps, and for nearly sixty years he has continued to enjoy the sport of pigeon racing.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the origins of the present day family of pigeons can be traced back more than 100 years to birds of the A. E. Sheppard strain which were winning long distance races from Lerwick and Thurso with the mighty London North Road Combine in the early part of the 20th Century. However, I think it would be true to say that one of the foundation stones of the present day Wills team was a red chequer cock bred in 1978. This pigeon, later named “Rollercoaster”, was to prove to be not only a terrific long distance racer, but also a prepotent breeder, as nearly all of John’s subsequent long distance winners after 1978 exhibit his genes in their make up. “Rollercoaster” won many prizes in difficult long distance races and amongst these was 1st Dax [only bird in race time] and 1st BICC Pau 565 miles. His direct progeny were none too clever as racers but as stock pigeons they all, almost without exception, produced top class long distance racers. Rollercoaster was himself something of a hybrid as his father was bred from an Ian Benstead Cock of the old Sheppard strain, when crossed with a red Kirkpatrick hen that had won 47th Open NFC Pau for Mr Tyler of Swindon. This red cock was then mated to a Burgher x Backs hen to breed Rollercoaster.

Now this is where John Wills was to prove to be inspired in the selection of his foundation stock, as he subsequently mated Rollercoaster to further introductions from Ian Benstead, thus strengthening the Sheppard influence in his “embryonic family”.

Ian Benstead was a top class long distance racer who was also a race horse trainer. Amongst his horse racing clients was A. E. Sheppard whose family of racing pigeons had won 1st LNRC from Lerwick or Thurso on six occasions between 1930 and 1937. Ian was amongst the major purchasers at Sheppard’s entire clearance sale and these Sheppard pigeons were to prove invaluable in the continuing long distance successes of the Benstead and subsequently, the Wills lofts.

John mated Rollercoaster with Benstead hens and also with hens bred down from his old “West London” family of pigeons which contained the bloodlines of “Butlers Hill Queen” who won 1st NFC San Sebastian; “Priory Pride” 1st LNRC Thurso 1947 and birds from Tubby Tate, George Lovell and Arthur White with some Slabbinck Cattrysse thrown into the melting pot for good measure. It should be noted that, for the most part, the old West London family was based on performance pigeons and not on pigeons with fancy sounding strain names generations removed from proven racers or breeders.

The Benstead pigeons were however to prove to be the dominant influence in the further development of the Wills family as more introductions were made from Ian Benstead right up to the time that Ian retired from the sport.

Let me illustrate here the breeding methods used by John Wills and in particular the use he made of “Rollercoaster” in building his present day family. Initially, “Rollercoaster” was mated to his cousin that had won 4th & 7th Open Marseille. This mating produced a Red Chequer Cock named “Roller’s Legacy”. John mated “Roller’s Legacy” to his aunt to produce a mealy hen named “Violet Lady” who was to win 4th Open NFC Pau. The next mating saw Violet Lady mated to her own sire to breed red cock “Roller’s Image”. This cock was kept for stock and in his early nests bred “Gail Supreme”, winner of 1st Open BICC Pau. John then mated a son of “Gail Supreme” with a grand daughter of “Gail Supreme” [uncle x niece mating] to breed “Del Boy”, the 2009 winner of the London & South East Yearling Classic from Tours for John and the culmination of 30 years of line and inbreeding using proven racers or producers in each generation.

That then is a brief outline of the origins and structure of the present day family of pigeons raced by John Wills. I say family as they truly are a well defined family of birds that look and handle as one, being in genetic terms phenotypically identical – that is they all look alike and they all handle similarly. The cocks are just above medium sized with noble looking bold heads and extensive wattle development, superb feather quality and outstanding eyesign. The hens were just below medium sized with excellent eyesign and feather quality and both cocks and hens exhibited excellent skeletal structure – fine boned and as strong as spring steel with not a weak back in sight. Incidentally, some of the hens could quite easily be mistaken for cocks, as they too possessed bold heads and large wattles like the cocks. Another characteristic of the family was the wing structure - when opening the wing it appeared as if the wing would extend forever with the last three flights long and narrow with large gaps between. Little wonder then with such impressive aerodynamic wings, that the Wills family can undertake long and arduous flights with seemingly little difficulty!

John has produced this family by inbreeding to the best performance pigeons. He is particularly keen on mating his best hens to one of their best sons in order to fix the genes, the emphasis being on the word BEST as he does not believe in inbreeding for the sake of inbreeding, it must be for the purpose of strengthening and consolidating the family gene pool, based on racing or breeding capabilities. When introducing a cross into the family John immediately mates it to his best pigeons. He then keeps the offspring that most resembles his own family and pairs it to one of the best of the old family. The resultant offspring from this pairing, which is in reality 3/4 old family and 1/4 cross, is then tested on the road.

It is often said that the mark of a truly great family of pigeons is not so much what they achieve in the hands of the founder but just as importantly what they win in other lofts. I can tell you that although John Wills is not commercially minded, the few pigeons that he has allowed to leave his lofts have done exceptionally well in those lofts fortunate to obtain the Wills strain as they are winning in long distance races for other fanciers, both pure and crossed.

Once he has produced the raw materials to work on the road, John is not in too much of a hurry to get them to the far off distance racepoints. The Wills pigeons are rarely raced as young birds but they are extensively trained. This begins with an initial 20 mile toss – single up! This is repeated a number of times before moving on to 40 and 50 miles where the process of singling or doubling up is repeated. John never releases his pigeons in large groups. Nor is he worried if the young birds make a mess of these early training tosses. All they have to do is get home and hopefully learn to become independent and rely on their own homing ability in the process. As yearlings they are usually expected to go out to 300 – 350 miles and in fact John has won the Saintes race at more than 350 miles with pigeons that were having the first race of their lives. Two year olds, if fit and well, go to the NFC Pau/Tarbes race and as three year olds some may be ready to face the “acid test” of International racing out to Barcelona 700 miles. This schedule is not set in stone as John may adjust things as he sees fit, watching the birds and assessing their condition and form allied to their past experience.

An example of this softly, softly approach to racing his birds is John’s good hen “Gail’s Supreme”, which won 1st BICC Pau, 565 miles, when having only the FIFTH race of her life. Ian Benstead regularly entered pigeons in International 600 mile races for their first ever encounter with the race basket and he rarely failed to clock them. The homing ability is so strongly bred into the family that they do not need to have seen every lamp post on the way home in the build up to their long distance tests. In order to emphasise this point I give you the example of Darren Roberts of Wrexham in North Wales who, in 2009, copied this preparatory schedule when sending six three year old latebreds of John Wills bloodlines to Tarbes at 686 miles, for only the third race of their lives. Result six from six with three on the NFC result at 2nd, 9th & 22nd section; 73rd, 216th & 483rd Open with more than 3,800 birds competing.

John’s policy has been to retire his best racers to the stock loft once they have put up an outstanding performance such as winning the BICC in a long distance race. This has ensured that the family can be maintained as he is constantly breeding from top class performers in long distance races along with their parents and selected sons or daughters. This policy has brought unbroken success at the distance for the past thirty years. However, due to personal circumstances, John has not done a lot of racing in recent years and he is now in the process of rebuilding a team of two, three and four year olds so that he can hopefully compete at the extreme distance in the near future.

As a result of this rebuilding process, John has extended his loft space and now has three lofts in the garden at the rear of his home. The main racing loft, to which all the main performers raced is a three-sectioned structure which faces north. This north facing aspect ensures that the internal environment is on the cool side at the beginning of the season, which is ideal for John’s pigeons as he doesn’t want the form to develop until late June when it will hopefully continue through to early August when the main long distance classics are being flown. However, skylights have been inserted on the southerly facing roof surface so that some sunlight can enter and warm up the floor area in front of the nest boxes. The other lofts are new additions that face south and house yearlings and some youngsters which will be brought on quietly in readiness for future International racing. The photographs that accompany this article will give the reader a good idea of the overall loft set up.

When ready for the test, the team will be hopper fed on yearling tic beans. This high protein feed is supplemented with peanuts in the final days build up to basketting. John rarely, if ever, feeds maize or seed and is reluctant to treat for any of the main ailments. He only does so if a problem arises or if he thinks the birds are not quite firing on all cylinders. Although the birds do not see a great deal of the inside of a race basket they are extensively trained from points on the south coast of England in preparation for their long distance tests. They also enjoy an open loft as often as John can allow. This keeps them fresh and raring to go. As one top class Welsh long distance fancier once told me: “pigeons are like boxers - they can only take so many hammerings and if they have to take one then it’s better that they do it when it matters, not in the preparation”.

Because of his concentration on long distance racing, John does not mate the birds early in the year, the time may vary and very often he is only weaning his first round of youngsters in late May. Everything is geared to attaining top form in late June, July and early August when he hopes to be entering his team in each individual pigeons’ favoured nest position, whether it be sitting eggs or feeding youngsters. John is not afraid to send his birds feeding squabs on soft food as he does not believe that this does them any harm whatsoever – quite the contrary in fact.

That then is brief outline of the birds and methods of a master of long distance pigeon racing. With these simple, yet practical methods applied to his carefully developed family of long distance racers, John is one of only a handful of present day British fanciers to win consistently at the extreme distance. Between 1992 and 2000 only nineteen fanciers in the whole of the UK appeared on the results of the NFC Pau race each year – one of those nineteen was John Wills of Frimley. Add to these impressive NFC performances further top prizes with the London & South East Classic, not forgetting his six outright wins plus many more top ten finishes in BICC long distance races and you have one of the best records of any fancier in England at the present time. Long may the success continue and my thanks go to you John for allowing me to visit and handle your magnificent family of long distance racing pigeons. Thanks also to Keith Mott for allowing the use of the pigeon portraits that accompany this report.

By DAVE BAKKE - THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Bill Leskovisek is the biggest pigeon fan this side of Bert from Sesame Street. Sometime today, some of Bill’s racing pigeons will arrive at Bill’s home in Virden after a 500-mile flight from Oklahoma City.

Sometime tomorrow, other racing pigeons Bill owns will arrive at Bill’s home in Virden after a 650-mile flight from Shamrock, Texas.

The racers have computer-coded bands on their legs. When one lights at Bill’s pigeon pen, the band will be scanned, just as if the bird was a bag of celery on the checkout conveyor belt at the Piggly Wiggly, and the time of its arrival will be recorded. Owners with birds in the race will then compare times to see which bird won.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeons Numbers One and Two: He and his brother, Sonny Leskovisek, got their first two pigeons when they were just kids. Their father brought them two “barn pigeons.” Those aren’t racing pigeons, but “that got me going,” Bill says. He and Sonny named those two pigeons Mama and Papa.

Bill was about 10 when he got into the pigeon game. He’s 78 years old now. That’s a lot of pigeons.

At one time, Auburn, Bill’s hometown, had more pigeon fanciers per capita than any other town in the United States. There are only a handful of true pigeon people remaining in central Illinois. Most have died.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeon Number Three: She was a yearling hen known only by her band number, 1449. What did you think, he named them all? He got this one from “Bone” Helms, who was a butcher in Auburn. Bone didn’t like that bird. Bill did.

“I liked something about its personality,” he says. “Pigeons have personalities. Oh yes, just like dogs and people.”

That pigeon made it home from Oklahoma City in a day, making it what they call a “day bird.” This was about 30 years ago.

Bill has sold pigeons to fanciers from Taiwan, where racing pigeons is a very popular hobby. He has about 120 pigeons in his pen right now, but only about 20 are racers. He works hard to keep the pen and the birds clean for two reasons: because the birds like to take baths and because the neighbors are pretty close.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeon Number Four: “I called her Midnight.” She was one of 400-some birds released at Pauls Valley, Okla. That’s about 600 miles from Virden. She was released at 6 a.m. and arrived home at 4:19 that afternoon. That’s moving right along. That was probably in 1982. Midnight died in 1983.

He feeds his birds pigeon grain and pellets for the main part of their diet. But he also gives them honey, garlic and vitamins. The birds are vaccinated once a year. They are susceptible to PMV virus. If well taken care of, a pigeon can live 12 to14 years.

A white racing pigeon is a pretty good bet to end up hawk food. A hawk will go after the white ones first.

Homing pigeons’ brains were studied at Cornell University. Researchers believe the birds have some sort of radar-like capability in their brains that enables them to find their way home from hundreds of miles away. However, more pigeons than ever are getting lost. Bill says the theory is that the microwave towers that have sprung up to enable cellular communication are throwing the birds off.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeon Number Five: Her name was Sweetheart. She was a red pigeon. She made it 920 air miles from Albuquerque in three days. That was a great bird, Bill says, but she was not that handsome. He describes her as “Ugly. Square head. Flat head.” That’s unfortunate, but she was still a darn good racer.

I said all those birds at Bill’s house must be a temptation for Virden’s cat population. He has that covered. Two dogs in the yard.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeon Number Six: She’s on her way home now from Texas. No name, just band number 322. She’s three years old. “Guys say she’s a good one,” says Bill. “She’s my favorite.” Her personality trait is that she is very protective of her eggs. Most pigeons don’t much care when Bill reaches under them to grab an egg. This one minds. She’ll peck him. He says it doesn’t hurt.

Speaking of pigeon eggs, Bill bought fake ones. They are made out of wood. He puts them in the breeder pigeon’s nest, and it keeps the pigeons from laying real eggs.

You learn something new every day. When someone asks you what you learned today, you can just read this to them.

HOW TO INSTALL :

1. Download desktop theme program and save it for your deksktop

2. Double click for plothemes.exe file

3. Click Install button

DOWNLOAD NOW YOUR OWN DESKTOP WALLPAPER!! CLICK HERE

MAN BARTERS 2009-MODEL CAR WITH 2 PIGEONS

Mr Halil Kabakçıoğlu, a pigeon lover, bartered his 2009-model Ford Focus with two pigeons at an auction at Pigeon Lovers Association in Nilüfer town of Bursa, western Turkey… .

....read more

BEST WEB HOSTING - FOR CLUB, FED or COMBINE!!!! CLICK HERE!!!

Submit Your Article To Racing Pigeon Newsletter

Have a pigeon related article? Send it to our article archives for others to see! Send us your article to Racing Pigen Newsletter now!    newsletter@racingpigeonforum.com

Like this newsletter?
If you find interesting articles, we would love you to add it to your own website.
Add this link to our site on your page:

Linkcode:
<a href="http://www.racingpigeonforum.com/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=475&e=Mzk2NDU=&l=http://www.racingpigeonforum.com/12all/index.php"><img src="http://www.plosoft.com/newsletter1.gif" width="139" height="65" border="0"></a>