Racing pigeons provide multigenerational sport for dwindling group of enthusiasts

The queen keeps a loft at Sandringham Castle and Mr. Tyson keeps his birds in New York and Las Vegas. Mr. Tyson recently starred in the Animal Planet series "Taking on Tyson," which followed his attempt to cobble together a winning racing pigeon loft in one season.

No one knows if the former boxer can find the redemption he seeks through birds, but locally the show has been embraced by pigeon fanciers who say it has brought positive attention to their hobby, in spite of Mr. Tyson's unsavory reputation. The irony here is the birds are probably as demonized as Mr. Tyson is, often called "flying rats."

Finding pigeon enthusiasts in Pittsburgh isn't hard after you locate Foy's Pet Supplies. In 2000, Jerry Gagne (pronounced "GONE-yay") became the third owner of Foy's, which has been catering to pigeon fanciers since 1887. The business is in a small storefront and warehouse in Beaver Falls, from which Mr. Gagne sends mail-ordered supplies, including fully built coops, all over the country. He also sells birds -- pigeons can be sent next-day air via the U.S. Mail.

While Mr. Gagne once raced pigeons, the business now keeps him and his family pretty busy and out of the racing game. Yet he is the common denominator when it comes to pigeons in Pittsburgh. If you race or show them, you will at some point wind up talking to Mr. Gagne, who is a wealth of information on pigeon care and knows most local pigeon fanciers.

Mr. Gagne says show pigeon fanciers probably outnumber racers in the area. These birds are exhibited in events much like AKC dog shows, where the conformation of the bird is judged. Because these pigeons, with a few exceptions, are not flown and therefore don't have to be trained and conditioned, it is much easier and cheaper to get started with show birds.

Pittsburgh racers

Racing pigeons have a much longer history in Pittsburgh, and not just as the closest relatives of the unwelcome pests that roost Downtown. By the 1870s, racing clubs had been formed on the East Coast and were most certainly in the Pittsburgh area, coming west with immigrants arriving to work in the steel mills. It is unlikely that they brought pigeons with them, but once they settled, they began importing birds from Germany, Holland, France and Belgium, places that even today are hotbeds of pigeon racing. It was once the national sport of Belgium.

In the 1930s, a local "flyer" from the small river town of Glenfield by the name of Harry Elston began making pigeon history. His strain of a breed called a Trenton were regularly winning races, some from distances of 1,000 miles and more. Some of the records his birds broke have never been bested. By 1936, Pittsburgh had the largest number of flyers in the American Racing Union and bragging rights from winning many prestigious races.

By some estimates, there were 600 racing lofts in the area in the '70s, and it was not uncommon for Pittsburgh to send 10,000 pigeons to an event.