He is the fearless, aerial acrobat of the skies, with a homing instinct that has been well capitalised upon by his human masters. He is the pigeon, bird of the Lord. Over a million pigeons are bred in the United States for racing purposes, and many more purely for companionship.
Lets find out by getting to know the pigeon.
When released in unfamiliar territory he will speed towards his home at the rate of about a mile per minute. He can do this at distances that range up to 500 miles. That is a mystery that man has yet to decipher. Pigeon racing was first developed I Belgium in the 1800s. To this day it is a national sport there, gambled upon heavily.