RACING PIGEON NEWS ISSUE 268

Welcome deckers davy issue 268

A flying fancy

Harbour News

CARALISE MOORE - North Harbour News

IN HIS 70 years of experience, Whangaparaoa pigeon flyer Norman Coker has only once seen one of his birds fly from Invercargill to Auckland.

That day was celebrated in December last year.

The pigeon fancier started racing birds in Devon, England, when he was around 11 years old.

Now he has a family of 60 birds in his backyard that he breeds, rears and trains.

Norman says he has never met anyone in New Zealand who has had a bird fly back home from as far away as Invercargill – almost 1200 kilometres – in 14 hours and 45 minutes.

Flying distance and time are the two important factors in pigeon racing.

Norman released his bird at 6.30am on December 15, and it arrived home at 9.15pm.

"It was an unbelievable effort and the highlight of my racing career. I've never had anything like it."

Norman says pigeons find their way home using several methods to navigate, including visual clues from the landscape, the sun and the Earth's magnetic field.

"I train them from when they are around 12 to 14 weeks old.

"I put them in a basket and take them to the North Shore.

"I liberate them from there and almost always they make it home. The older they get the further away I do it."

While Norman is very proud of his bird, who is unnamed, he says it's important to recognise each pigeon has its own personality.

The bond between owner and bird is important in its drive to return home.

"It is important to spend a lot of time with your birds, and for them to know this is their home."

Always trying to push the flying time and distance boundaries, Norman says he has never put limitations on how far the birds can fly in a day.

"Pigeon flying started as a hobby back in the medieval days when people probably didn't have much to do.

"It's a shame the hobby isn't popular today, but it is probably because it is too expensive and there are so many other things children can do now."

One of Norman's biggest lessons from his pigeons is patience.

"It takes a lot of time to get a good flyer."

Racing for seven decades and perfecting the bloodline of his feathered family has taught him a lot of patience.

Norman's pigeons are based on the famous Van Cutsem bloodlines, and several more were introduced from other Auckland racers' stock, creating solid performers.

Pigeons usually have a racing life of six years and can live up to 20 years.

Norman moved to Whangaparaoa from Christchurch in 1993 with his wife. He has two sons and two daughters.

CHARLES DAHLEN OF THE GREATER SEATTLE CLUB.
BY SKI GRABANSKI

I belong to the Greater Seattle Club. We have 30 members with approx. 20 members flying each week this OB season. I would like you to meet Charles Dahlen who I think is worthy of special recognition. Charles has been a member of our club for four years. In those four years he has flown only a hand full of races. This year, Charles is flying a small team of yearling's that were not trained as young birds. Charles did start training his race team this year two months before the OB series started.

Here are Charles's club results to date.
Week 1 70 miles with 175 birds competing Charles took 12th, 13th, 14th & 15th.
Week 2 100 miles A, with 190 birds, 1st & 2nd
100 miles B, with 150 birds, 12th
Week 3 145 miles A, 209 birds, 4th, 9th, & 14th. Now is where it gets good.
Week 4 165 miles A, 211 birds, 1st, 3rd & 10th
165 miles B, 140 birds, 1st & 4th
Week 5 200 miles A, 220 birds, 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th & 21st
200 miles B, 161 birds, 1st, 2nd 3rd & 16th.

Charles also took top honors in the Evergreen Concourse this past weekend with 1st place in the "B" race, winning by almost one minute.

Who knows what week 6 will bring. Just to let everyone know the competition is very tough in our club. In the first 15 positions, it's not uncommon to see 10 to 12 different lofts.

I remember the first weekend of the OB series, the guys were commenting how great Charles's birds felt. The color and the weight on them was perfect, and the feather quality was outstanding. They felt like silk.

After knock-off last week, some of the members asked Charles what he was doing to get such great results and his birds in such great shape? I asked if he was flying Widowhood or the Natural system? He flies them Natural. So we asked what nest position he flies them to? His answer was "OH I don't have nest boxes for them, they only have perches and sometimes a couple of pair get together in a corner of the loft".

Charles loft is small (10X12) with 3 sections (Breeders, OB flyer's & YB's). It's completely open in the front and has expanded metal for the floor. You would think that this would be a disadvantage because of our damp and rainy weather here in the Pacific Northwest. But as I said, the birds look fantastic. One thing I forgot to mention, Charles is one of two members in the club that still uses a mechanical clock. If you notice in the picture, he has bobs for his trapping system. Not stall traps. So when the birds return from the race, he has to walk them in from the landing board and once the birds are in the loft he has to catch them and remove the counter marker and put it in the clock. How much time do you think he loses?

Birds: Charles has 12 pair of breeders that were given to him by fellow club members. He has a little mixture of everything and some Janssens.

Feeding: Charles feeds his race birds a mixture that is 15.5% protein. Saturday (race day) the birds are fed equal parts race mix and Safflower. Sunday they are fed the same as Saturday. Monday through Thursday they get 1 part race mix and 1 part Safflower. Friday they get 1 part Safflower and 1 part race mix. Sunday through Friday the birds are fed only once a day in the AM. They are fed all they want, then the feed is taken away. The birds are also fed fresh grit with garlic everyday.

Training & exercise: The birds are trained twice a week, at 40 driving miles. They are exercised twice per day. The evening exercise is about an hour before sunset. Birds are rested Sunday & Monday.

Medication: NONE!!!!

Supplements: Twice a week they get a mixture of Wheat Germ Oil & Soybean Oil with Brewers Yeast mixed on the feed. Saturday & Sunday they are given electrolytes with vitamins in the water. Monday through Wednesday the water has Winsmore Vitamins in it. Thursday and Friday they are given Red Cell in the water.

Charles is not only a very tough competitor, but also a great asset to the club. He is always one of the first to arrive the night of shipping and makes sure all the shipping crates are setup and have water in them for the birds. Charles, congratulations from all your club members on a fantastic start and we all hope your success continues throughout the season.

We told Charles that his natural birds are not suppose to beat our widowhood cocks and hens week in and week out. He only smiled. Charles, the only advice I can give you, is don't change a thing, know matter what anyone tells you.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY SKI GRABANSKI.

BIRDBRAINED
Text: BRAD MACKAY

WALLY SABELL ARRIVES AT THE SILVERTON HOTEL & CASINO AROUND 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and elbows his way through the maze of slot machines and blackjack tables. The 72-year-old dodges the keno waitresses, ignores the call of the all-you-can-eat buffet and slips into a back room of this Las Vegas casino. Unlike the herd of silver-haired low rollers outside, Wally is uninterested in your run-of-the-mill video poker. Right now, not even an underground poker game or baccarat session will do. Tonight Wally is answering a higher calling - that of pigeon racing.

While pigeon racing has existed for centuries, it has largely been a regionalized hobby, with like-minded men pitting their birds against one another in a race back to their home lofts. But the recent growth of high-stakes one-loft races has helped change all that. As the name implies, in one-loft races, a large number of pigeons are raised at one location, which allows them to be treated equally with feed and medication. With big purses and a common finish line, one-loft races have added a much-needed shot of drama to a lonely " and admittedly strange " pastime.

It's fitting, then, that this high-voltage gambler's mecca is playing host this weekend to the world's top feathered athletes in a trifecta of one-loft pigeon racing. By Saturday, more than 1,000 pigeon breeders and fanciers from Italy, Belgium, China and the Philippines will descend on America's playground for a trio of long-distance races with a combined purse of more than US$1.25-million. By the time Wally arrives at the Silverton Showroom, a good half of them are waiting patiently for tonight's kickoff of the latest race, the Vegas Classic " a 515-kilometre aerial marathon with US$40,000 for the first-place bird. An affable, bright-eyed landscaper from Denver, Wally has been raising homing pigeons for almost 60 years. Clad in a blue satin jacket with a larger-than-life pigeon design on the back, he trades banter and rumours while waiting for the proceedings to begin.

Each breeder is given a three-minute audience with his bird before it is registered and locked in the race trailer. (Following the inspection, the 382 birds will be kept under lock and key overnight before being driven by race officials to the Mexican fishing village El Golfo de Santa Clara and released.) If you're not around, your bird is left in the hands of race officials. Wally doesn't like the sound of that. "Look at that guy," he motions with his head. "He has a hand like a foot. I don't want him anywhere near my bird."

When his name is called, Wally makes his way through cigar smoke to stacks of metal cages and is handed his pigeon beak-first. He begins a pre-flight checklist. First he grabs a wing and holds it outstretched, waiting for it to tremble just so. Next he pushes on the feet " a test of muscle resistance. Uncertain, he peers into the bird's red and yellow pupils and inspects the colour of its wattle. Then he suddenly flips the bird over, parting its feathers and exposing its breastbone. Squinting, he leans closer, sticks out his tongue and licks the bird's pale pinkish skin to clean off the excess dander. He says he's looking for a tiny blood vessel that is visible only in first-class racing pigeons, and he apparently likes what he sees. "Could be a winner," he says nodding, as the bird is secured in its cage.

As bizarre as this seems, Wally's personal voodoo is re-enacted many times over the next three days. Owners here will do anything, including staring down the birds' throats and examining their tail feathers, in an attempt to decipher something that is essentially unexplainable. Although homing pigeons date back to ancient Egypt, their ability to return to their home lofts remains inscrutable. Besides being prized as couriers during two world wars, the birds have beguiled everyone from Kublai Khan to Charles Darwin to Queen Victoria. They even sparked a pigeon-fancying craze in late 19th-century Europe, complete with its own social clubs. This culture lingers on in Belgium, the heart of global pigeon racing.

Come Saturday afternoon, Ed Sittner's back yard is awash with well-maintained beer bellies and once-proud pompadours. It's a perfectly balmy day, and about 400 farmers, cowboys and businessmen are feeding on barbecue and peach cobbler, just metres from the race loft-cum-finish line. Released around 7:30 a.m., the birds are expected to return to Ed's 25-metre custom-built loft around 2:30 this afternoon. Ed, the organizer of the Vegas Classic, has been responsible for raising these men's birds since they were shipped to him from across the globe last summer. Each entrant dished out $1,300 for a team of three birds, the bulk of which is funnelled into the cash prizes.

Calabrese, a Californian wearing a solid-gold pigeon around his neck, believes that one-loft races have changed the sport " and not necessarily for the better. "It used to be you won $75; you'd take your wife out to a dinner and a show," he groans. "Now everything's just mind-boggling." These heightened stakes lend a whiff of intrigue to today's event that is usually reserved for more established sports such as horse racing. By 1 p.m., the crowd is swapping rumours in a mash of English, Spanish, Chinese and other languages. Near a set of bleachers, some Mexican guys, up from Los Angeles, share trade secrets with me. "Cocaine," whispers one, prompting me to nervous laughter. "Don't laugh, man," adds another. "It happens." Steve Bueller, a man with the spreading paunch of someone who loves his barbecue, confesses that such tactics, including the use of steroids, can never be ruled out: "When you're talking about this type of money, people will do a lot of things."

As the clock drags closer to 2:30 p.m., people stop talking and begin scanning the sky. "This is like watching a baseball game," says a guy wearing a "Fly or Die" ball cap. "In January." To ease the monotony, Wally tears off the top off a cardboard beer box and starts taking side bets on the arrival of the first bird. "What time you like?" he croaks, grabbing at the bills being thrust his way. Shortly after a teenage boy and I place a measly one-dollar bets, we catch sight of a pigeon that has apparently snuck into view from the north.

"Bird! Bird! Bird!" I find myself hollering, complete with a repeated jabbing of my finger. After the boy begins silently jumping in unison, an old-timer interrupts. "Nope," he says dryly. "That's just a commie." Common pigeons have a more laboured stroke than homing pigeons, he explains, and often coast on updrafts.

Surprisingly, only five birds will arrive today, the rest straggling in tomorrow morning and over the next few days. (The winner, Andy Rodriguez from Texas, walks away with $40,000 plus an additional $10,000 from the breeder pooling.) Still, most fanciers remain steadfast until sundown, wrapped in blankets, awaiting their birds in the desert chill.

"There's something about them being let go miles away and still deciding to fly back to this stupid little loft," Donald Giunta, a New York contractor, explains. "Let's face it " they could just land at any time in a nice cornfield somewhere and that would be the end of it."

But they don't. And that's a neat kind of magic.

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