High Speed Birds

When people think of what sports are out there, the images of basketball, soccer, and hockey immediately come to mind. People who are into more niche ones might think of something like table tennis, competitive tag and maybe even Quidditch. If you try looking for even more obscure sports, you might find a couple of people here and there who enjoy activities like snowkiting. However, Lethbridge is home to a sport even more niche than that: pigeon racing. It wouldn’t be a wild assumption to think that most people out there haven’t heard of this fascinating and underrated sport. It may come as a surprise to many that this is even a thing, but what may also shock people even more is that Lethbridge has its very own pigeon racing club. There is so much to learn about this class of racing, and the Lethbridge Pigeon Club gave The Meliorist a first-hand look at what it’s like to race these birds, as well as what goes into their training.

What is Pigeon Racing?

For the most part, the sport’s name provides a fairly self-explanatory description of what it entails. Looking at it from the simplest lens possible, it’s just that: a race between pigeons. But after learning more about it, explaining it so simply almost feels criminal. Standard races involve having pigeons released at faraway locations, with the race concluding as they arrive back at their home location. These pigeons are raised in “lofts”—shed-like structures that provide them with small rooms to rest, eat, and sunbathe, ensuring that, like human athletes, they’re in tip-top shape for the big competitions.

These athlete pigeons are effectively the same species as the birds you would see in downtown streets or the ones scrambling for leftovers at local parking lots. Descendants of the ancient Rock Dove (Johnston, 1992), these avian friends have been used for various tasks throughout history; the Roman Empire used pigeons to deliver invitations to sporting events, Genghis Khan had a massive network of birds for communication, and the French, during World War I, used them to communicate essential military intelligence (Blume, 2004).

One difference with today’s racing pigeons, however, is in their lifespan. Wild pigeons tend to live only about three to four years at most. However, due to their trainers’ attention to their health and performance, racing pigeons can sometimes reach a lifespan of about twenty years (RPRA, 2012).

While pigeons have been used for many purposes since the time of the Roman Empire, racing pigeons is a relatively more modern activity. While the exact origins of pigeon racing is debated, it’s generally accepted that the sport began in Belgium sometime during the early 1800s, with the first major race occurring in 1818 (CRPU, 2018). This makes pigeon racing an older sport than some mainstream activities like basketball and even rugby (WRA, 2019). Although it never reached the popularity of sports like soccer, pigeon racing continued to grow in popularity, largely due to the British Royal Family’s involvement in the sport. More recently, the Canadian Racing Pigeon Union (2018) stated it has about 20,000 registered athlete birds. The sport, however, remains relatively unknown in most parts of the country, although local clubs are still working to grow and sustain the sport.

Lethbridge’s Pigeon Racing Club

To learn more about this fascinating activity, I contacted our city’s very own pigeon racing club. I was welcomed by the club’s president, Kaz Sznerch, and secretary-treasurer, Frank Vandenheuvel. These gentlemen gave me a rundown on the club’s history and also showed me one of the local lofts, which housed about 30 racing pigeons. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience, as it was obvious that there is so much more to pigeon racing than the name implies, and underneath it all was a strong passion and care for the birds most people see as pests.

Kaz and Frank started off with a brief history of Lethbridge’s club. Interestingly enough, the club, in its current form, is not the original version. The Lethbridge Pigeon Club got its start around the mid-1950s, although there was reportedly a club active before World War II, which ceased operations at the beginning of the conflict. Since then, the Lethbridge club has been in operation, raising numerous pigeons and helping others get started.

Our city’s club participates regularly in races across the province. Members will generally bring about 5-20 pigeons each to participate. After a member drops off the birds at a distance, it’s just a matter of time until the pigeons make their way to the endpoint: their home lofts in Lethbridge. These races can be short, with the 50km courses usually lasting a couple of hours, to the longest ones, at distances of up to 700km, often taking days. The sport has also evolved alongside technology, as birds now have badges on them, with a registered bird ID in case they get lost and someone finds them. The club has retained some of the older tools to track finishing times, including a timer that was made around the late 1800s. These days, racing times are primarily recorded electronically, with timers triggering as soon as the pigeon returns to its loft.

The pigeons themselves were a real sight to see. From the get-go, they looked very different from the pigeons you’d see in busy downtown areas. These birds were noticeably slimmer, had brighter feathers, and looked incredibly healthy overall. They even seemed significantly more relaxed compared to their urban cousins, who constantly look on edge. Their health and performance result from a well-curated, high-protein seed diet that also includes several other vitamin-dense ingredients. The training regimen often consists of letting the birds fly around the area until they get tired and return to the loft. These pigeons are athletes in every sense of the word, even flapping their wings with much more elegance than the common street bird. All of this to say that these pigeons are part of a physical class above that of the average bird.

The Pigeon Keeping Community

As of today, the club has only a smidge under 10 members, compared to the 1990s, when the club had member numbers in the high 20s and early 30s. The two gentlemen explained to me that this is due to several factors. A large part of it has to do with the changing times; people no longer commonly live in larger houses with enough space in the backyard for a full-sized loft. Today, more people are renting houses and apartments with strict rules in place. Even for those in something like a basement suite with a backyard, landlords might not allow pets or extra sheds to be built. Aside from that, some may have the space and resources to get started, but neighbours with taller roofs might complain as they may not want pigeons sitting or taking breaks from flying on their property. All this, coupled with young people’s growing interest in other sports and online activities, is unfortunately leaving clubs like the one in Lethbridge without many new members.

There is hope, however, for a potential revitalization of Lethbridge’s pigeon racing scene. Our city’s population is steadily increasing, bringing people from all over the country and the world. With pigeon racing not being an exclusively Canadian sport, new members could come from abroad. Kaz and Frank detailed to me how they have recently helped immigrants who had an interest in caring for pigeons in their home countries get started again in our city. The club is open to helping pretty much anyone get started, as long as they have an honest interest in the sport and a genuine care for the birds. Many times, the club even gives new members pigeons to start with, instead of making everyone go and buy them on their own. The club is visibly welcoming, willing to share the joy of raising and competing with just about anyone in the city.

Flying Forward

It wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to think that most people around haven’t heard much about pigeon racing, if at all. It’s a fascinatingly unique thing that seems niche even to those who participate in unknown sports themselves. Even when people think of sports that involve animals, most will think of activities like canine agility and horse racing. What makes something like pigeon racing so interesting is the fact that it’s done with such an unassuming creature.

In daily life, pigeons are often seen as annoying pests; but with the right trainer and a quality training regimen, these birds can become genuine athletes. Unfortunately, it seems that pigeon racing is becoming increasingly less known as time passes. However, it’s heartwarming to see that it’s a hobby still kept alive by people who not only enjoy the racing aspect but also have a genuine care for the pigeons themselves. Seeing it all in action is also a reminder that you can find something exciting pretty much everywhere you look, even in the birds that you would normally imagine picking at crumbs in a mall’s parking lot. The Lethbridge Pigeon Racing Club is always looking for new members, eager to help anyone get started with the sport and get to know a side of pigeons that most people wouldn’t ever know about.

We, here at the Meliorist, would like to thank the Lethbridge Pigeon Racing Club for giving us an in-depth look at the ins and outs of pigeon racing, as well as sharing with us more about how it has been a part of Lethbridge’s unique and dynamic history.