I believe that small race teams which are more manageable that can be transported in cars that get 35-50 miles per gallon, with up to 100 birds in a race is where the sport is going.

Furthermore to cut down on costs, the heavily researched widowhood method of flying will continue to gain popularity in the US, as fanciers realize they do not have to drive up the road every day to train their birds for peak performance. The work can be done at home.

Also I believe that eventually people will realize that we have it all backwards in this country where our emphasis is on young birds and we should be focusing on old birds in racing much more so. Why push a 4 to 10 month old baby so hard when you could race them up to 4 years old… even 5 if you do not burn them out. Many fanciers do not have developed old bird teams and this is because of young bird greed. Then they turn around and push the heck out of the yearlings. Perhaps 6 or 7 weeks of young bird racing up to 300 miles and racing for 10 weeks of old birds in the spring and 4-5 weeks in the fall. To do this fanciers need accomplished old bird teams. That will not happen until it becomes their focus.

I think over the next decade all of this will come to be commonplace in locations where clubs consist of 10 guys or less and transportation costs continue to rise. There is no need for our life’s passion to disappear— we simply need to adapt. And yes, at times change is good.

This year’s awards.

This year’s wall of race results.

Everyone having a good time.

This is just a portion of our feast! Everyone pitched in and made a dish.

Jim Gaffney of All American Loft accepting his plaque for his 100 mile race win.

Richie of Chisnick Loft accepting his plaque for his 200 and 250 mile wins in YB.

Charlie Morgan of Mountain View Loft accepting his plaque for his dominating OB season.  Winner of 3 races, Overall Average Speed, Champion Bird and Champion Loft. Way to go Charlie!!!

Joesph Costa of Ranch Loft accepting his plaque for his win in our Ashtabula Auction Race from 350 miles. Joe also won a old bird race.

Tom Sit of Tom Sit Loft accepting his trophies for his four Old Bird Season wins, two at 150 miles and two at 300 miles.

Tom also won the a 300 mile race in Young Birds and the Championship One Bird Derby Race. Nine birds released alone from 300 miles, everyone’s top point birds for the season.

Peter Miller of Millertime Loft accepting his plaque for his record breaking speed for NCC of 1767YPM from 500 miles!!!

That’s 7 hours and 59 minutes!!!

Kyle Warren of Levi Loft holding up his plaque for his 300 mile Old Bird win. Kyle had a derby bird that went to five consecutive derby races and was two times first and three times second, never losing by more than two minutes.  He also had four wins in Young Birds at 150, 150, 150, and 200 plus the 200 Filly Derby and Champion Loft.

We had a nice couple of hours at the clubhouse today and all the ladies helped out to straighten up the place.  This is the way every club should be— friends, family and a real good time!!!

Last night, shipping night for Watkins Glen, our 150 mile race station we had a little guest.  His name is Tyler, Charlie Morgan’s grandson.  Now 30 years old, I stood there watching this 11 year old boy hang out and swap man stories.  I couldn’t help but see myself in him.  He listened to everything everyone said and fit right in like he was one of the guys.  Tyler handled his grandfather’s birds to go in the shipping carriers like an old pro.  One old timer asked, “hey kid how long have you been around the pigeons?” Tyler shrugged his shoulders and smiled, as in saying— since I could crawl.  This kid has a great spirit and it’s kids like him that make me hopeful for the sport’s future.  I love this sport and I love these kids! Anything I can do to help them, I will!

Today was race day at Levi Loft in Olivebridge, NY.  I had a young guest of my own watching the race come in.  Wyatt, a 13 year old boy in our community has shown much interest in getting to know the birds more.  I enjoyed his company and really look forward to sharing my experience and knowledge with him.  The interest and passion I see in these boys is what has carried the sport for the past 100 years and hopefully will do the same for the next 100 years.

The King is my best breeding cock bird. As of January 2012— 89% of his offspring have made the top 10 positions in club races and produced 8 club winners, a two multi-1st place derby bird winners and his children produce equal quality racers. At 9 years old I can only hope he has many more good years in him.  Super pigeon. Once in a lifetime breeder.

This is Kyle’s widowhood loft.

Kyle’s widowhood racers enjoying some off-season summer evening time atop their loft.

After crating the birds up, I put feed in all the sections with fresh water with vitamins and electrolytes.  Ok— the birds are ready to go, just gotta feed the dogs and we hit the road.  I depart Olivebridge for Binghamton at 5:15am.  We sail all the way to our destination with no traffic.  I toss the birds on a hill top in a McDonald’s parking lot.  I set up all the crates for release when I arrive. Then go in and use the bathroom, order an Egg McMuffin then return to my truck, where Proton, my 4.5 month old pup awaits riding shotgun on this journey.  The birds are released at 7:30am and poof! They’re gone! I hop back into the truck and head home.

I arrived home at 9:30am sharp. I run up to the pigeon clock to read their time in and the birds beat me by 15 minutes.  Which gives them a speed of 1351ypm (yards per mile), which equals 46mph on average.  I top off their drinkers and head off to work for the day.  They are now ready for the first race out of Cortland, NY on August 14th, from which I fly 113 miles.

This is the time of year when all of us featherheads get really excited about the season ahead and have high hopes of having a great year.

There’s a saying we have, “One day you’re the champ, the next day you’re the chump.”  Whenever we win we feel so good and act like a six year old kid with a candy bar.  We rush home and look at our winner, so proud of all the hard work that brought our loft that victory.  And then— the following week you’re 15 minutes behind the leader and all the wind is knocked out of your sail.  Well, racing pigeons is about the beauty of this little bird.  When I sit in the yard, even if I know I’m late because one of my buddies called me and told me that they got one, I’m that little kid with the candy bar when my first bird comes home from a race.  My heart races and I look over to my wife and often say, “how much time did we lose?!”  She smiles and laughs. An hour later she asks, “are they all home yet?” I reply, “yep!” She says, “oh good!”  And up to the club house I go to calculate the speeds for the day’s champion.

This site is dedicated to growing the sport of pigeon racing here in the the Hudson Valley and Catskills of upstate New York.  This sport has passionately reached millions around the world but still has yet to become as common place as baseball at our American dinner tables.  For hundreds of years people have been fascinated with pigeons ability to navigate from place to place.  Through the ages, pigeons have been selectively bred to not just consistently be able to fly back to their home but to do so from distances over 500 miles.  These amazing creatures and their abilities have earned a spot in our hearts and minds forever.  We want to make more people aware that the sport is alive and well in our area and we want you to join us! When you come back to visit us here please scroll down for new posts.  This post is our introduction and will remain the top home page post. Thank you!

By Kyle Warren