Flight of pigeons catches Chennaiites fancy

Pigeons, the one-time friends of lovers for carrying their love notes for miles, have now caught the imagination of Chennaiites who are getting into pigeon racing with gusto.

The city has seven clubs and more than 500 members from all walks of life who are passionately involved in pigeon racing.

Eshwaran, secretary, Tamil Nadu Homer Pigeon Association, who is into pigeon racing for over 15 years, says, “The fever is catching up in Chennai. There are lot of people getting into it as a sport.” And training the pigeon is like training an athlete.

Homer pigeons are selectively bred and have remarkable ability to find their way back home from long distances.

The training starts as soon as they are born. By the time they are three to six months old, they will be able to fly two to five km, says R Baskar, president of Central Madras Homer Club.

The annual training for the race starts by November and the actual race starts post-Pongal.

Baskar, who won the club championship this time, says, “The period between mid-January and April is the best time for the race because of favourable winds.”

This time the Central Madras Homer Club held the race from Nagpur to Chennai, covering 900 km. The race was not conducted directly from Nagpur, instead, markers were developed at definite places over the route for the pigeons to find their way.

When the first phase of the race started in December, the pigeons were taken to Venkatachalam in Andhra Pradesh and gradually taken closer to Nagpur. With some four or five markers the pigeons were finally flown from Nagpur. From Nagpur, the pigeons were let into air on a Thursday at 8.15 am and Baskar’s champion pigeon reached Chennai on Saturday at 12.15 pm, clocking a flight time of 21 hours.The pigeons flew only between 6 am to 6 pm.