LINDSAY, Neb. (AP) - More than 3,000 years ago, the Romans used homing pigeons as messengers, and pigeons were used as a symbol and sacrifice, both sacred and secular over the centuries by the English.
The U.S. military even used homing pigeons for communication and reconnaissance purposes in World War I and World War II.
The demand for homing pigeons slowly dwindled as technology continued to develop over each and every decade, but the interest in pigeon racing never seemed to die.
Larry Bender, 68, who resides 4½ miles south of Lindsay, told the Norfolk Daily News his uncle raised homing pigeons when he was younger and Bender later got hooked at the age of 29.
“I’ve had pigeons all of my life - I got into it in 1982 and since I enjoy competition, I just felt like trying pigeon racing,” Bender said. “It gets in your blood and you light up like a light bulb.”
Homing pigeon racing first started in United States in the 1880s, when the first 500-mile race took place.
According to the American Racing Pigeon Union, there are nearly 1 million fliers around the world today. There are pigeon flyers who reside all around Europe, including 18,000 from Belgium.
“Pigeon racing is a very unique and competitive sport,” Bender said. “You have to have them ready for a race; typically you’ll have birds of your own race for years.”
Homing pigeons race anywhere from 80 to 600 miles in a race and can fly speeds up to 40-60 miles per hour, normally over terrain they have never experienced before. The homing pigeons that do race can be anywhere from less than a year old and usually race up to the age of 5.
Bender, along with the 10 other members in the Platte Valley Homing Club, will travel around the Midwest from April to the end of June to compete in homing pigeon races, including a 600-mile race that will start in Fort Worth, Texas, and end at his house in Lindsay.
“It all depends on how they breed. Some birds can race across mountains, and some can fly around the prairie lands,” Bender said.
HOMING pigeons are housed in a loft where they will be taken care of, until the evening before a race, when each bird is moved into a clubhouse. The pigeons are loaded up and someone from the Platte Valley Homing Club then will drive them to the starting position. Once they are let go, the pigeons head back to their lofts. The 600-mile race from Fort Worth will take the pigeons anywhere from 10-14 hours to get back to Lindsay.
“You turn them loose and they’ve all got to break to their own loft,” Bender said.
Out of the 70 pigeons that Bender owns, he allows each of them to fly four races a year, so this doesn’t force the pigeons to fly thousands of miles every month.
That adds a bit of strategy to the sport.
“We try to fly birds in certain races,” Bender said. “In 2005, I sent a bird in a 600-mile race and got third, but the next weekend as I was going through all of the birds, I had a feeling she was going to do well and she went on to win the race. That was one of the few birds to fly back-to-back 600-mile races.”
The best time to see when pigeons have potential to do well in a race is when they are about a year old, Bender said.
“The older the birds get is when you’ll know how consistent they will be,” Bender said. “I had a pigeon win champion birds a couple of years in a row and he was a great bird.”
Two years ago, Bender had the second best bird in the Platte Valley Homing Club and has had the top pigeon in the club multiple times, including in 2005.
Every year Bender has a handful of pigeons that he looks for when they are in the sky, as he has his own way of remembering the best ones.
“Some guys name their birds, but I never got into that. I know my birds - when I see them flying in the air, I can remember all of them,” Bender said.
BACK in December, Bender spoke in front of the Norfolk City Council, asking council members to consider changing ordinances so aspiring pigeon racers could raise the homing pigeons in town.
Norfolk city code currently prohibits all fowl, but Bender asked the council to change this.
“I’m trying to find boundaries to see where new pigeon flyers can hold their pigeons. We want to try to help out these new pigeon flyers because the sport is dwindling,” Bender said.
Bender and the Platte Valley Homing Club that started in 1980 got their season underway once again on April 17 when they had their first 110-mile race in 2021. Bender had the best day in the club, as he had the top 12 birds in the race.
Although there is so much more to do these days with technology, Bender encourages people to give the sport a chance and to at least check it out.
“There’s so much more to do that it’s tough to put time and effort into this sport,” Bender said. “It’s just a hobby that I really enjoy. There’s so many people that don’t even know about pigeon racing, but they become fascinated about it. It’s unreal with how many people ask questions about it and they seem interested in it.”
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