Pigeon keeping

Pigeon keeping is the art and science of breeding domestic pigeons. People have practised pigeon keeping for about 10,000 years in almost every part of the world. In that time, mankind has substantially altered the morphology and the behaviour of the domesticated descendants of the rock dove to suit his needs for food, aesthetic satisfaction and entertainment.

People who breed pigeons are commonly referred to as pigeon fanciers. The hobby is gaining in popularity in the United States, after having waned within the last 50 years. Both the hobby and commercial aspects of keeping pigeons are thriving in other parts of the world.

The rock dove, which is generally believed to be the ancestor of domesticated pigeons, was probably domesticated around ten thousand years ago. There are hundreds of breeds of domesticated pigeons arising from this common ancestor which are currently cultivated by pigeon fanciers. Because of the large number of domesticated breeds, pigeon fanciers find it convenient for certain purposes to group sets of domesticated pigeons into larger groups.

In the United States and United Kingdom, there are three major recognized groups of breeds of domesticated pigeons:

It is worth noting that pigeon fanciers in other nations use different schemes in grouping domesticated pigeons; for example, a nationwide pigeon organization in Germany uses a far different grouping scheme. The Australian grouping system is similar to the UK/European groupings. For example, see: Major breed families of fancy pigeon.

These pigeons are kept and bred for their aerial performance and for reproduction. Racing homers are a type of Homing pigeon, trained to participate in the sport of pigeon racing, and have been used to carry messages during times of war. Such races often have large cash prizes of up to $1 million as the Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race. Fanciers who fly racing pigeons sometimes win long-distance races and even break records. Other flying/sporting pigeons are bred for unique flying characteristics other than homing, such as rolling, high-flying, and diving. These birds, which may be flown in competitions, include but are not limited to Rollers, Tumblers, and Tipplers. It should also be noted that a few varieties, for example, the Parlor Roller, are considered to be within the flying/sporting group even though they do not fly. This is because they compete on the basis of their performance and not their appearance. Competitors in pigeon sporting competitions such as pigeon races can win large sums of prize money when their pigeons return home the fastest from a race. The use of pigeons to carry messages is commonly called pigeon post. Pigeons can also carry small light-weight packages, and have been used to smuggle drugs into a prison.

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