On display at Derby Museum and Art Gallery is the taxidermied skin of a homing pigeon known as the King of Rome. It acquired this name in 1913 when it won a thousand-mile race from Rome, and its body was donated to the museum by its owner, Charlie Hudson, when it died. It has become quite well known, largely because of a song written by Dave Sudbury and recorded most memorably by June Tabor.
Pigeon racing has long been a hobby for workers, partly as a form of escapism from the grind of employment (‘I can’t fly but me pigeons can’, as the song just mentioned has it). But in some countries it is far more than that. In Taiwan, for instance, it is a massive industry, with big cash prizes and lots of betting going on (Guardian, 30 August). This, of course, has led to plenty of underhand activity, such as kidnapping birds and cloning the tracking chips they wear in races, so that a second bird can be sent to finish earlier. Birds can be given performance-enhancing drugs, or separated from their mates as a way of getting them to fly faster. Legally, it is something of a grey area, not exactly illegal but subject to little regulation. This includes few restrictions on the welfare of the birds, such as ensuring that fewer get lost at sea.
A YouTube video ‘Why This Pigeon Could Be Worth Millions’ looks at the market for racing pigeons. In some places it is a sport for millionaire owners, rather like horse racing, and indeed breeding successful pigeons can be just as remunerative as breeding top-class race horses. The Pigeon Paradise website describes itself as ‘The most exclusive auction house for racing pigeons worldwide’. Occasionally birds really do sell for over a million dollars!
In the UK things may not be quite at this level, but, as the name suggests, the Royal Pigeon Racing Association has a long-standing association with the royal family, and there are pigeon lofts at Sandringham. At a more grass-roots level, pigeons are on sale on the Gumtree site, where prices vary from £5 to £100. Also there are one-loft races, where someone can buy a bird but does not have to have their own loft to keep it in. Take the bird to a loft, where the loft manager will handle everything and let you know how it does in races; supposedly an uncomplicated way into the sport.
You can’t help wondering what Charlie Hudson would have made of the way the pastime he enjoyed has been transformed into a global source of large fortunes.
Paul Bennett
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