Racing pigeon

[nanila]

A racing pigeon came to rest with us here in rural Worcestershire, UK, for a few days last week. It hung around by our tiny pond and (almost) took seed from our hands, as well as the bird feeders, and roosted on our roof at night before flying back home (we presume).

We don't normally see common pigeons here, only wood pigeons, so this was a novelty!

Comments

[egret]

I love pigeons. They're very pretty, even though many people consider them pests.

[cmcmck]

The race bred ones always look in so much better condition than the feral townies.

Handsome birds, but so are wood pigeons and like you, that's mostly what we see.

[shirebound]

He/she is lovely! Word of your feeders might even now be spreading in the pigeon community.

[yourlibrarian]

I think I see bands on its legs in your pic. Is this how you knew it was a racing pigeon or is there a distinctive breed?

[turlough]

What a handsome bird!

[cmcmck]

Both- it will have ID bands if it's a racer (it's a big thing in the English Midlands where _nanila_ and I both live although in different counties) and racers are highly bred as this one clearly is- the feral town pigeons tend to be a bit of a mix but this is obviously a pure bred.

[futurism]

What a majestic picture you took of it! By the looks of it it's marked/controlled so maybe it left its normal humans for a bit?

[nanila]

Thank you! Yes, it's a racing pigeon. Pigeon-racing is a big thing around here (West Midlands).

[nanila]

It is, it's in beautiful condition.

[nanila]

Heh, if a whole flock of racing pigeons descended on us, we would run out of bird seed almost immediately!

[nanila]

They are beautiful birds. This one is particularly charming. It took a shine to the children as well.