What is remarkable about the racing pigeon is its ability to select the height in the sky at which to race home. When racing into a head wind you may have seen the exhilarating sight of a batch of racing pigeons flying low, hedge hopping, trying to gain an advantage by sheltering from the on coming wind. You may have seen them on race days skimming up over the tree tops and then descending back down to just a few feet above ground level. However there is the serious risk of injury when pigeons race very low and near to obstacles at speed. In this situation pigeons at the rear of large batches will have their view restricted by those directly in front and as a consequence collision with an on coming obstruction is a good possibility. The leading birds will see wires or trees, and rise up over them; where as those at the rear will have little time to dive upwards in an attempt to miss the obstacle. When these conditions prevail our birds sometimes return with broken legs or skinned breast bones. Sadly on occasions they will fail to return at all.

Pigeons racing across the channel will sometimes encounter some quite fierce winds. There is no hiding place over this open expanse of sea and pigeons will have no alternative but to face these strong blustery conditions. Don’t forget winds will always be at their strongest over the sea as opposed to those over the land. I remember convoyer Doug Went many years ago on his return journey after liberating the LSECC birds from Vire in France describing the view from on board ship in mid channel. He said that the very strong northerly winds had created large waves carrying white horses and that small batches of pigeons could be seen skimming over these waves tops into the on coming wind. In fact he aptly described the wind strength of sledge hammer force.  Against these difficult conditions the birds never faltered, continuing to race using all their energy, their navigation systems locked on to their home lofts.  This is certainly a sight to behold but only achievable by fit healthy pigeons. 

How often have we been surprised by that whooshing sound as a flock of racers have just swept over head racing low only to disappear from view as quickly as they arrived? Waiting at the loft for our first arrival always seems to take that much longer when birds race into a head wind.  While waiting you could possibly envisage your birds racing home, tackling the wind over the open sea or country side. Perhaps there is one particular pigeon; you’re favourite which could be first to your loft. Did it leave the race point quickly; is it in the one of the leading batches, will it break away at the right time when nearer home, and will it deliver the red card?  When we sight our first arrival folding in low and land on the loft sometimes with its wings dropped, we can only admire their sheer determination to return home. On handling the pigeon after such an exertion, it will have lost body weight. I consider the most difficult and coveted trophy to win in any club is the one awarded for the "Lowest Winning Velocity." This is invariably achieved by a pigeon racing into a head wind.

Conditions can be even harder when pigeons race into head winds carrying rain. Some protection is offered by the natural oils on their feathers but in these circumstances the rain will strike the bird quite hard making their wattles turn pink. As a result pigeons can sometimes be beaten down and will seek refuge on roof tops waiting for the rain to clear before continuing their journey. Liberating pigeons into this type of weather should never happen as it is the responsibility of race advisers to correctly examine the flight path and inform the convoyer of the weather conditions along the race path.

Now let’s now look at the complete reverse situation when pigeons race home in tail winds. Usually they choose to race high up in the sky gaining assistance from the helping wind. The bird’s brain will instinctively tell it to fly high benefiting from the available wind speed. This action helps the pigeon achieve maximum speeds arriving at its loft in the shortest possible time. The higher the bird races the greater the wind strength and velocities well in excess of 2000 ypm have often been recorded. There are of course variations in wind strength from ground level upwards but generally at about 1000 feet the pigeon can gain maximum advantage.  Most of us at some time will have walked down the garden on a race day when there is a tail wind giving ourselves plenty of time to prepare for our first arrival. Low and behold a pigeon rockets out of the sky and circles the loft. Where is the clock? Where are the thimbles? Can the pigeon get into the loft? We are caught out and valuable time is lost. The pigeon has arrived before the estimated arrival time purely down to the extra assistance gained from the helping wind. A lesson is learnt and we tell ourselves this is not going to happen again!

The main concern when racing with tail winds is the trapping aspect. When looking for your first pigeon it will sometimes be seen as a small dot high in the sky and time is lost as it spirals downwards. This does not apply to pigeons descending before they reach the loft area; very similar to that of an aircraft approaching a runway and you will be unaware of the height at which it was actually racing. Pigeons will race home in tail winds carrying light rain which seems to have little affect on them, provided that they have that essential good start for the first part of the journey. 

On several occasions I have witnessed pigeons racing into a side wind. They tackle the wind flow much the same as a yacht on water transverses sideways into a cross wind. The reader might have seen batches of pigeons racing in a long line stretched out gaining upward motion then dropping down again. By adopting this method, pigeons can obtain a certain amount of free lift which helps maintain their air speed. The two following examples are excellent performances achieved by pigeons racing into strong side winds, and they illustrate the sustained effort required to tackle these conditions. The SNFC raced from Tours on with the majority of the convoy racing over 550 miles. Liberated at 07:25 the pigeons upon reaching the northern French coastline picked up a stiff westerly wind which remained for  the duration of the race. That evening at dusk Margaret and Norman Renton timed in their 3 year old blue hen at 10:29 flying 594 miles recording a velocity of 1157 ypm. The pigeon turned out to be the only pigeon on the day a clear 151 ypm in front of the 2nd Open pigeon. A truly amazing feat!  The winner is now fittingly named ‘The Performer.’ That in itself is an achievement but what is remarkable is the bird battled against a strong westerly wind for most the journey home, although the wind did ease towards dusk. This is the usual characteristic of any wind as nightfall approaches it does tend to abate.

The second pigeon worthy of mention is a dark chequer cock named Highdown Prince owned and raced by John Puddephatt. This pigeon deserves another tribute for an outstanding dual performance winning 3rd section A, 25th Open from NFC Pau and 2nd section A, 15th Open NFC Dax. Both performances were achieved on the day of liberation flying over 500 miles. As John would put it in his own words, this one is out of the top drawer. How many 500 mile day birds are there to be found in our lofts today? Not many, but to have one that has completed this distance twice within a few weeks really is exceptional.

I have mentioned easterly winds in a previous article but they do create difficult flying conditions. Easterly winds arrive from Europe off the continental land mass. On good days when no rain is present this airflow carries little moisture as its composition is dry.  These winds to some degree can be polluted if they travel over the land having picked up minute particles from industrial regions. This is evident as when viewing the landscape from a vantage point when there is an easterly wind the view is often restricted as a white haze can be seen. As a consequence visibility is limited. These flying conditions do not create a friendly environment as pigeons racing in this dry air become dehydrated. It comes as no surprise when they arrive at their lofts they dive straight for the drinker. There will be those arrivals upon closer inspection will have mud on their feet, conclusive proof that they have been down for a drink. (Young birds will drop down for a drink regardless of wind direction if they have not drunk in the crate or basket.) Racing in easterly winds can and does reduce the overall number of birds returning to their lofts as some pigeons have difficulty dealing with this environment. 

 Westerly winds come directly off the Atlantic Ocean and always carry moisture in the air. These winds are what could be termed as far as the pigeon is concerned user friendly. Usually west or more specifically northwest winds provide the best visibility, which can on occasions be as far as the eye can see. This air provided the line of flight is unobstructed by rain, create the best flying conditions. Pigeons will not have the urgency to find the drinker on returning home. Effectively a north west air flow will always produce good flying conditions and pigeons will be able to cover long distances racing in these winds. 

 Another situation can arise when there is no wind which can also cause problems. This was the case when the UNC were racing from Melton Mowbury a few years ago. Fog and low cloud drifted in from off the North Sea which is about 50 miles away from the race point and prevented liberation on the Saturday. The same weather  conditions were forecast for Sunday with no prospect of a race. Sure enough when chief convoyer Steve Proffit (A good man at the race point.) looked out of his cab on Sunday morning the gloomy sight of fog became visible and not a breath of wind. The only possible way a race could go ahead would be for the wind to generate and clear the fog. Somebody must have been listening to Steve’s prayers as this is exactly what happened as a wind developed, and some two hours later he had the birds airborne.

 As we are all aware the wind performs the most important role in determining how long a race will take. So if we have exact information on wind speed and direction using new technology then estimates of arrival times can be more precise. A wide range of information is on hand but accessing the key data is essential. The wind can decide how much time a convoyer has available at the race point when poor weather affects the race route.  If he is waiting for rain to clear the line of flight and a tail wind is available then he has more time at his disposal. Clearly less time will be required for the birds to race home.  Whereas when the birds have a head wind to contend with then additional time is required for the pigeons to cover the same journey home. In this situation a holdover is a distinct possibility.

Race advisors and convoyers must estimate how large or small a window of good weather is available for any race. This will largely depend upon distance to be flown, but wind speed and direction will obviously affect the period of time the pigeon is airborne, and of course it’s arrival time at the loft.  However on occasions the wind will change direction or speed up during the course of the day, and carry rain onto the flight path. A typical situation will develop that has not been forecast and you can hear fanciers saying ‘the weather men got it wrong again.’

Obviously Convoyers at race points try their level best to determine wind direction.  Some even carry compasses for this sole purpose. If winds are very light then the exact direction is difficult to establish. A no wind situation is usually interpreted as light and variable. Winds will also affect how a convoyer will position his transporter at the race point. Ideally the cab or the rear of the vehicle should face the wind so when the pigeons are released they face the same wind conditions regardless of which side of the transporter they leave. Of course this is not always possible as some race points restrict vehicle mobility due to number of transporters and lack of space or hard standing. If the transporter is incorrectly positioned and wind blows from the wrong direction then some pigeons when liberated could loose control and risk colliding with trees or surrouding buildings etc. Let’s not lose sight of the majority of good convoyers with many years of experience who do take the wind direction into consideration at race points.

On some occasions when fanciers are considering sending to an Open race when prize money is substantial, they will firstly check out the wind direction. If the wind disadvantages a fancier’s loft location,  then he has little chance of picking up prize money then his birds stay at home. Another aspect of the wind is how it can and does affect our pigeons approaching the loft on race days. If your pigeon senses it could loose control trying to land from the usual direction of approach because the wind is pushing it directly towards the loft, then it will abort landing and circle the loft to try again. As a consequence, and more importantly on the shorter races valuable time is lost. With the prevailing south westerly winds, a loft facing this direction will be more prone to this phenomenon. On the other hand if the pigeon directly faces the wind on approaching the landing area then it will land or enter the loft straight away with no time lost. The position of the loft will obviously play an important part especially if it is in a sheltered position when the wind will have less affect. 

One day waiting for race birds watching the clouds speeding overhead being driven along by a fresh westerly wind, the thought occurred to me as to what overall influence the wind does have on our racing pigeons. The wind plays so many roles in affecting our sport and generally its direction will have a significant affect on the overall success of any race. In Classic and National racing some sections will fare better than others. Strong head winds will certainly promote a difficult race with some pigeons being unable to sustain a continued effort for the duration of the race. Dissimilarly pigeons will make light work of racing in tail winds resulting in most of the convoy returning to their lofts. Strong side winds will lengthen the distance a bird races home as the pigeon is pushed of it's true line of flight as it will travel in an arc to the home loft.  While on the subject of channel conditions very occasionally during the summer months strong winds can develop which plays havoc with ferry crossings. As a result the ship rolls in the rough seas and any pigeons on board will directly experience the effect. So the wind has many ways of affecting our pigeons not only when they are in the air but also in transit. 

With the increasing number of wind turbines being erected along our shore lines perhaps the question may have been asked do these structures become a problem for our racing pigeons. A complete study into the effect of offshore wind turbines on birds lasted for 5 years and concluded that birds including racing pigeons avoid these turbines by flying further out from the coast line over the sea. The conclusion after studying the effects of wind turbines is that the impact on all birds is relatively minor, very similar to those killed per kilometer by road traffic. If wind turbines are located on a particular race route, then pigeons will avoid racing near them like any other obstacle. 

 So to summarise when race day arrives it’s fairly obvious why such an interest is taken in the wind direction. This is by far the most important factor determining in which area the winning pigeon will arrive. Of course the other significant factor governing arrival time is wind speed. The wind plays such an important role in so many ways and directly imposes it’s self on our sport whether we like it or not. For those that watch the weather on TV seeing the pressure charts might not mean a great deal. These charts determine wind direction which will always be governed by the weather system that controls our weather. They will either advantage or disadvantage the racing pigeon on its journey home. As described in the preceding paragraphs the wind can and does make flying conditions easy or difficult. It affects the convoyer’s judgement at the race point which effectively can prolong or shorten flying time. The wind does influence the weather conditions as to whether a race can or cannot take place by dispersing or not dispersing fog. It can change the quality of the air which will help or hinder the pigeon in flight, east or west winds.  It can affect the direction birds approach the loft, which could loose time. Occasionally it can make channel crossings rough. Finally depending on wind direction fanciers will decide whether they do or do not send to an Open race. So when it comes to liberating our pigeons into the open skies it is always Mother Nature that decides the weather conditions our birds will encounter. 

 

 

 

 

Steve Appleby