Athletes of the sky

Tiruchi Racing Pigeon Club has kept this hobby/sport alive and flying for the past 25 years

July 18, 2014 08:19 pm | Updated July 19, 2014 10:06 am IST - Tiruchi

Tagged homer pigeons at Tiruchi Racing Pigeon Club. Photo: A. Muralitharan

Tagged homer pigeons at Tiruchi Racing Pigeon Club. Photo: A. Muralitharan

It is impossible to ignore the cooing and wing fluttering in the dovecote that takes up most of the open-air terrace on this Heber Road, Beema Nagar residence. Visitors who huff up the three narrow flights of stairs will also be in theory entering the official premises of the Tiruchi Racing Pigeon Club (TRPC), an institution that has been bringing together a motley crew of pigeon fanciers in the city for the past 25 years.

“I came up in life because of pigeons. I was so focused on having my own collection of birds that I worked very hard to buy a house where I could rear and race pigeons,” says S. Jegadesan, club secretary and the go-to man for all things pigeon in this organisation of 18-20 members.

The former BHEL employee said he started taking an interest in the birds as a 10-year-old in the 1970s.

The racing pigeon (or more accurately, racing dove), also called the ‘racing homer’ for its ability to return to its nest and mate after flying long distances, was developed in 19th century Belgium by inter-breeding the Smerle, French Cumulet, English Carrier and Dragoon bloodlines.

Today the hobby/sport enjoys widespread patronage, especially in India after the ban on importing European racing breeds was lifted in the 1980s. Chennai is thought to have taken over from Kolkata as the country’s pigeon racing capital, with over 4,000 pigeon fanciers in the city.

As many as 40 pigeon racing clubs are in operation throughout Tamil Nadu, with most of them aiming at winning the 1,000-km endurance race (so far, the birds from Tiruchi have been successful up to 700km).

“You have to train the bird like a human athlete,” says Ashok Kumar, who joins us in the TRPC premises where Jegadesan keeps his 100-plus homers.

Identity tags are fitted to the bird’s foot when it is a 20-day-old fledgling, and this, for the rest of its life, becomes its ‘name.’

“We train the pigeons slowly – first by starting them out at 5km. Then we go to 10km, then 20km. After 20km, the bird has enough stamina for a 50km-race. After 50km, it can be trained for 100km and beyond. Once it achieves this distance, a pigeon can be entered for a race,” says Jegadesan.

Ready, set, fly

The race pits the ability of several trained pigeons (TRPC allows only five birds per member), to fly over a set distance, in a given period of time. “We give a homer pigeon around seven hours to return, but it is usually back within three to four hours,” says Jegadesan.

The bird with the highest velocity (the distance flown divided by the time taken), is declared the winner.

While clocking the race has become more sophisticated abroad, with the use of microchips to ensure accuracy, Indian pigeon race times are still recorded using traditional methods.

A dual-numbered rubber tag (whose details are noted by a referee) is attached to the bird’s leg and the clock (“we use ordinary clocks with just the seconds hands,” says Jegadesan) is set when it leaves the loft of the breeder.

The time of the homer pigeon’s return to the loft is recorded by a referee, and as the TRPC’s handwritten records show, a few seconds could lose a bird the race.

Ups and downs

Race pigeons are vulnerable to attacks from larger birds of prey while in flight. Most clubs therefore prefer to hold their races during the winter months when the bigger birds are moulting (shedding their feathers). TRPC held its 25th race from December 2013 to March this year, and is waiting for an opportune time to commemorate the milestone.

“Unlike other places, there is not much awareness about pigeon racing in Tiruchi,” says Ashok Kumar. “In Chennai, for example, besides cash awards, bumper prizes like two-wheelers and even plots of land are offered to the winner.” In contrast, the TRPC has to be content with its membership fees of Rs.1500 per person to finance the cups and shields and a banquet.

It costs around Rs.3000 per month to maintain around a hundred racing pigeons, says Jegadesan. The birds are prone to contracting chicken-pox and eye diseases, and the occasional cold during wet weather.

With imported birds costing as much as Rs.30,000 and beyond, and local varieties going for Rs.10,000-15,000, prize-winning pigeons are often kept under lock and key by their breeders.

Successful bloodlines like ‘super-racer’ and ‘Cheyenne’ are in great demand, and usually traded between small circles of pigeon fanciers. As their fitness declines with age (a homer peaks by 5 years), the purebreds are kept aside for in-breeding, while the others are simply ‘retired.’ The racing pigeon has a life span of 17 years.

“Transporting the birds during races is a major hassle,” says Kumar, who owns 150 racing pigeons. “There’s no way of reaching a race venue on time unless we all pool in and arrange one vehicle to transport our panniers,” he adds. A pannier can hold up to 15 pigeons. Even then, objections from Forest Department officials can further delay a racing event, says Kumar.

The birds are fed wheat, corn kernels, chickpeas, sunflower seeds and groundnut, and during racing days, almonds for extra strength.

“Homers are very intelligent and affectionate,” says Jagadesan. “Though we don’t give them names, they know their breeders from strangers. Watching them and tending to them gives me a lot of mental satisfaction.”

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