In early march I read a story about 120 white birds released in Burwood Park in Sydney around the time of Vietnamese New Year. Ten of them were housed at a friends loft down the road.
Daily Telegraph Article.
I had read in some cultures that a release of a white dove or pigeon is a lucky thing during New Years celebrations. Individuals and families pay for a bird to be released on their behalf. So 120 pigeons times $X amount. Not a bad day's stop in a park.
The concept is fine except for in this case the pigeons I suspect strongly had never flown and as such had never been trained to home. What's really ridiculous is if the men releasing these birds had the right breed that had been homed they could have sold a release of the same bird every year for the life of the pigeon.
Another thing I know is though when re homing pigeons is, when offered in large numbers in Sydney & Melbourne, they are usually destined for the pot. So sight unseen, under the condition of vaccination, I met half way at Goulburn and picked up 5 fruit boxes of scrambling birds. After a good look at these birds. A few I wouldn't expect to roam far but see how the rest go with the pedigree racer flock.
If they can't roam I'll slowly find them homes as pairs for someone who wants a flying pet.
As for the next Vietnamese New Year here in Canberra, if anyone wants to organise a lucky event I'll release a hundred birds for you. The difference between the ill fated Burwood release and mine is they will all beat me home.
I'm a pigeon fancier and keep a small flock. Unfortunately I lost most of them during a 6 weeks stay in a hospital. Goshawks hit them pretty hard while I wasn't home to care for them. A friend brought me a few a couple of days ago to rebuild my flock. Most are young birds that have never flown, but a couple are older birds and I doubt if they will stay here. The older pair are acting broody, so if they have eggs or chicks here maybe they will stay. Well bred birds of a racing strain.
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