# what is the fastest speed in mph that a pigeons fly



## mindeezy (Oct 2, 2001)

does anyone know what is the top speed that any pigeons can reach up to?


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## Pigeonrh (Oct 3, 2001)

I have had some have flew 65-70 km's.

Ryan,


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## raynjudy (Aug 22, 2000)

It's a fair question.

But I suppose one would have to qualify the question. Do you mean in a burst? Or a dive? Or for a sustained flight? 

GI Joe averaged better than a mile a minute (60 mph.) on his historic mission, when he saved a thousand allied lives in WWII. And I've read that average speeds of 50-60 mph. are common among racers. But you didn't ask the "average" speed.

Your question specifically was: "does anyone know what is the top speed that any pigeons can reach up to?"

Well, it would vary by pigeon--they're individuals after all. But the fastest would have to be the line bred racers. Many of the top racing breeds have hearts about twice the size of an ordinary pigeon. 

Still, the way races are timed does not specifically answer your question, because there are other variables that influence the race time, such as the smarts of the individual bird. If a racers course is a bit off, the finish time will be longer, or if it lingers on the roof of the home loft upon arrival, precious seconds are lost and its race time could be blown completely. A

Then there's the weather. Cross winds, head winds, tail winds, temperature, I suppose even altutude above sea level impacts the pigeon's performance.

Certainly aircraft have paced the birds for the making of films like "Oldest Feathered Friend" (see link on this site). But even talking to that pilot might not answer your specific question.

Judy says she clocked a pigeon from her company van on a familiar stretch of road at an impressive 67 mph., when it broke off suddenly and dived under a bridge.

Know what? I really don't know! It's got to be in the realm of maybe 70 mph. But I don't know.

Carl? K.D.? Anybody?

--Ray


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2001)

Redtails can fly about 35, and falcons on the level - I think they can get up to 70. Not that a straight chase protects pigeons much from predatory birds, but it sure is nice to know they have that chance flying from buteos - at least.


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## turmani (Aug 29, 2001)

I think it is safe to say that the range of 55 to 65 mph among Racing breeds are the fastest for consistant, level flight for distance.

Still, the Egri Blue Highflier of Hungary (German: Erlauer, Romanian: Kolozvar) is undoubtedly the fastest breed for level, bursts of speed. I've personally seen Egri Blues put on rapid bursts of speed (often involving a 380 degree turn) that would put any racer to shame. They can home well and will beat ANY Racing Homer for up to 25 miles, but tend to slow down beyond this.

On the otherside, if we consider the diving ability of certain breeds, even Doneks (relatively slow divers at 90 mph) far exceed the speeds of Racers and most of your traditional diving breeds (Voutes, Dewlaps, Lebanons, etc.) when bred correctly will exceed 110+ on the dive. This is fast enough to give any falcon a run and falcons actually dive at slower speeds than often reported (we've had the radar gun on diving breeds and on falcons to back that up).

K.D. Spurling

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