In a flap: Morry Iacovella with some of his feathered friends.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
FINDING the way home, for we humans, is aided by landmarks, street signs or a GPS.
But how would we go if we were just dropped in the middle of nowhere without any of the usual assistance?
One option might be to follow a pigeon – if you can.
Geelong City Homing Club’s resident bird man, Morry Iacovella, said no one quite knew how the birds found their way home, sometimes over distances of 1000 kilometres.
“There are some interesting theories,” he explained.
“Some scientists claim the birds rely on Earth’s magnetic fields, others believe the birds use the position of the Sun to direct them.”
Morry had a few other interesting facts about homing – or racing – pigeons.
“The birds can travel from 40 to 120 kilometres per hour, depending on wind and weather conditions.
“When releasing birds for training, they often beat their owner home because they don’t have to stop for traffic.
“The defence force still uses homing pigeons today. In fact, they had them available to use in Iraq in case normal communications failed.
“The racing pigeon is protected and the army can requisition them from breeders if need be.”
Morry said homing pigeons were celebrated in World War I.
One famous bird was credited with saving an entire battalion caught behind enemy lines.
Morry said competitors bred and trained their own birds.
He described preparing the pigeons for racing as a “bit of an art”.
Most pigeon fanciers kept between 50 and 100 race birds, breeding baby pigeons called squabs.
“You have to get them in race condition, which takes a lot of training by taking them to certain locations and flying them home,” Morry said.
“When the bird comes home you have to get it straight into the cage. Controlling the feed helps maintain homing control.”
Morry said the club had a lot of juniors coming through the ranks.
“Funnily enough, kids will sometimes lose interest but the dads get hooked and take over.”
The club, established in 1913, holds monthly get-togethers at Geelong Showgrounds.
Members participate in weekly races from late May to the end of October. Birds race over 60km at the start of the racing season, with the distance increasing by 100km every three weeks.
By the end of the season the birds race up to 1000km.
This year the season will culminate in a race from Bourke, in northern New South Wales.
Morry said club races offered prize money of $50 for first, $30 for second and $20 for third as well as a trophy.
The club sometimes organised special races in which birds might fly from Tasmania to the mainland while vying for a prize pool of up to $10,000.
Morry said anyone seeking more information about the club could phone him on 0414 614 507 or visit vha.asn.au.
