Lost Bird: Care and Identification

---

I think I speak on behalf of all pigeon fanciers when I say thank you for trying to help a lost pigeon be returned to it's owner. Even if you've found a deceased bird, most pigeon fanciers are still interested in knowing what might have happened to their missing birds.

Care

Short term care for a lost racer is pretty simple. If a homer is off course, he's probably tired, hungry, and thirsty. A good meal and a night's rest might be all he needs to get back in the air and on his way home.

Pigeons are grain and seed eaters. Other than a specially prepared racing mix, the best thing to offer a lost homer is a mix of wild bird seed and unpopped popcorn kernels. Offer water in a dish that's at least one or two inches deep. A pigeon dunks her entire beak in the water and draws the water up, rather than scooping like other birds.

If the homer you've found is uninjured, do not continue to feed the bird. A healthy bird will be quite capable of returning to his home in time for the next meal. Further feeding will only encourage the homer to linger at your location.

Reading a leg band

All thoroughbred pigeons are registered with permanent leg bands a few days after being hatched. These special bands, also called rings, stay on the bird for life. They are unique and identify a bird as belonging to a national sponsoring organization, a local club, and finally to an individual club member. The leg band also tells the year the birds was hatched.

When examining a band number, look for the following bits of information:

• National sponsoring pigeon organization. Examples: IF, AU, NPA

• Year the bird was hatched. Examples: 99, 00, 01

• Local club code. Examples: OMAHA, SOJ, LAB

• Bird number. Examples: 5701, 10243

A complete band number might read: AU 99 OMAHA 1234.

Some national level pigeon organizations post their club affiliate's contact information online. Others list a contact individual. Please view the table below to get more information on the band you've found.

Organizations in: North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia,

North America
Band Code	Organization	Contact
AU	American Racing Pigeon Union	http://www.pigeon.org
CU	Canadian Racing Pigeon Union (Canada)	http://www.crpu.org
IPB	Independent Pigeon Breeders (United States)	vickiesp@access995.com Phone: 877-355-7727 Fax: 724-843-6070
IF	International Federation of Homing Pigeon Fanciers	http://www.americanhoming.org
NBRC	National Birmingham Roller Club	Mr. Robbie Henderson RHende4719@aol.com
NPA	National Pigeon Association (United States)	http://www.npausa.com james4bird@aol.com Mr. James Avery Secretary/Treasurer National Pigeon Association
United Kingdom
Band Code	Organization	Contact
BRC	Bentley Roller Club (United Kingdom)	Mr P Green 85 Slater Street Willenhall, Wolverhampton WV13 1HZ Phone: 01902 634695
BSRF/RSG	British Show Racer Federation (United Kingdom)	Mr D McClary 59 Argyll Road Pennysylvania, Exeter. EX4 4RX Phone: 01392 273947
EERC AICF/NYC	East of England Roller Club (United Kingdom)	Mr J Mullan The Legend 41 Coopers Rd Martlesham Heath, Suffolk IP5 3SJ Phone/Fax: 01473 624526
FPA	Fancy Pigeon Association (United Kingdom)	Mr L Mullan 41 Coopers Rd Martlesham Heath, Suffolk IP5 3SJ Phone/Fax: 01473 624526
LFRC	London Flying Roller Club (United Kingdom)	Mr C Fisher 97 Sketty Road Enfield, Middx EN1 3SJ Phone: 020 8367 8350
MPRC	Midland Roller Pigeon Club (United Kingdom)	Mr S Taylor 44 King George Close Sidemore, Bromsgrove, Worcs B61 8ASH Phone: 01527 870092 after 6pm please.
NPA	National Pigeon Association (United Kingdom)	Mrs Tracey Edwards Bridge Villa Main St Pollington, Goole. DN14 0DW Phone: 01405 869516
NRC	Northern Roller Club (United Kingdom)	Mr J Weir 24 Lowry Villas Whiteleas, South Shields Tyne & Wear NE34 8HZ Phone: 0191 4261653
NTU	National Tippler Union (United Kingdom)	B. Rose 46, Maynard Road Hartcliffe, Bristol BS13 OAG Phone: 01179 647275
NTUW	National Tippler Union of Wales (United Kingdom)	Mr R Williams 4 Clayton Street Landore, Swansea SA1 2PW Phone: 01792 424393
NFTTS	Norwich Flying Tippler & Roller Society (United Kingdom)	Mr C Howard 4 Fitzgerald Rd Lakenham, Norwich NR1 2NF Phone: 01603 470920
NRTT	Nottingham Roller Tippler & Tumbler Club (United Kingdom)	Mr R Davis 79 Westdale Lane Gedling, Nottingham Phone: 0115 9539771
WEFT/BSW	West of England Flying Tumbler Society (United Kingdom)	Mrs R Williams 12 Clovelly Road Bideford, Nth Devon Phone: 01237 477096
WHFC	Worchester Hi-Fli Club (United Kingdom)	Mr J Smith 22 Albert Rd Worcester WR5 1EB Phone: 01905 355041
WTC	Wolverhampton Tumbler Club (United Kingdom)	Mr S Porter 70 King Edward Rd Rugby, Warks CV21 2TE
NEHU	North of England Homing Union (United Kingdom)	NEHU@nehu.co.uk 58, Ennerdale Road Walker Dene, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE6 4DG Phone: 0191 262 5440
NWHU	North West Homing Union (United Kingdom)	Janet. E. Hull 10 Ward Street Lostock Hall Preston, Lancashire PR5 5HR Phone: 01772 468748
GB	Royal Pigeon Racing Association (Great Britain)	RPRA The Reddings Cheltenham Glos. GL51 5RN Phone: 01452 713529 Ms. Karen James RPRA Strays Coordinator strays@rpra.org
IHU N	Irish Homing Union "N" (Ireland)	J. Hughes 34 Adelaide Avenue Belfast BT9 7FY
IHU S	Irish Homing Union "S" (Ireland)	S. Lehane 69 Lorcan Crescent Santry, Dublin
SU	Scottish Homing Union (United Kingdom)	231A, Low Waters Road Hamilton, Lanarkshire ML3 7QN Phone: 01698 286983
WHU	Welsh Homing Pigeon Union (United Kingdom)	3, Coed Cae Tirfil, New Tredegar Gwent NP2 6HH Phone: 01443 833161
Europe
Band Code	Organization	Contact
BELG	Royale Federation Colombophile Belge (Belgium)	39 rue de Livourne Ixelles, Brussels 1050 Belgium Phone: 0032 2537 6211 Fax: 0032 2538 5721
FRANCE	Federation Colomophile Francaise (France)	54 Boulevard Carnot 59042 Lille Cedex, France Phone: 0033 3200 68287 Fax: 0033 3201 50157
DV	Verband Deutscher Brieftaubenliebhaber E. V. (Germany)	Essen, D-4513 Schonleinstrasse 43 P.O. Box 103935 Germany Phone: 0049 2018 72240 Fax: 0049 2018 722499
NL/HOLL	Bureau N. P. O. (The Nethernlands)	Landjuweel 38 3905 PH Veenendaal The Netherlands Phone: 0031 3185 59700 Fax: 00313185 23712
NORGE	Norges Brevdue Forbund (Norwegian Racing Pigeon Association)	Stein Thorsen (Norwegian language) Postboks 196 5322 Kleppesto Norway Inge Fagerli (Norwegian and English language) froy__@hotmail.com
PL	Polski Związek Hodowców Gołębi Pocztowych (Poland)	Polski Związek Hodowców Gołębi Pocztowych Zarząd Główny w Chorzowie Skr. pocztowa 177 41 - 501 Chorzów Tel. +48 32 241 59 82 Web: http://www.pzhgp.and.pl/
PORT	Federacao Portuguesa de Colombofilia (Portugal)	Rue Padre Estevao Cabral No. 79 Salas 214/215, 3000 Colmbra, Portugal
ESP	Real Federacion Colombofilia Espanola (Spain)	Eloy Gonzalo 34 piso 7 Iz'da 28010 Madrid Spain
MALTA	Federation of Pigeon Racing Clubs of Malta (Malta)	Railway Avenue Hamrum, HMR08 Malta
Asia / Australia
Band Code	Organization	Contact
PHA	Philippine Homing Pigeon Association	primelnk@skynet.net Mr. Francis Uy PHA Secretary General P.O. Box 1252, Ermita 1099, Manila Philippines Phone: + 63 2 243 2972
SAHPA	South Australian Homing Pigeon Association	mail@sahpa.asn.au merit@senet.com.au Phone: + 61 8 264 2838