# Where Domestic Pigeons are Most Popular



## risingstarfans (Sep 13, 2008)

I know a lot of you folks here on PT have little or no contact with the show pigeon end of the hobby, so I thought I'd throw a few facts at you for perspective:

Here's a rough guide to all breed Show sizes for North America:

Small: under 500, less than 65 exhibitors
Medium: up to about 1500+/- less than 150 exhibitors
Large: up to about 3,000 birds emtered
Very large: to about 5,000 entries
Huge: The San Bernardino, CA National Pigeon Show of 1998 had 8,600+ entries, the North American Record.
World record: Nuremburg, Germany, 2006: Over 36,000 pigeons entered

The pigeon fancy in America is very weak and declining in popularity comparison to most old world countries. On average, there is one person in more than 10,000 that keeps pigeons for a hobby, and who purchases seamless bands for their young. About a quarter of these are involved in competitions such as show, performance or racing.

In most countries on the European continent, the number is about one in a thousand. Japan and other far eastern countries, the hobby is growing rapidly.

SO WHERE ARE PIGEONS MOST POPULAR???
Arguably the country with the largest number of pigeon fanciers per capita is Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, with an estimated 35,000 fanciers in a total population of only a half million, equal to one in four households. Many other persian gulf countries find similar popularity in keeping domesticated pigeons, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the Arab Emirates.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Blame the media/pesticide company on the non-popularity of pigeons here in America. You can probably also blame the ordinances that make it harder to have pigeons. 

I myself wondered why pigeons are so unpopular here in America. They seemed to have stigma in them.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Many thanks for this information. It is a shame interest is dying out in the USA but, hopefully, it will come around again. I suspect Rod is correct that ordinances are contributing to the situation.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

Yes...
depending on what atate you live in there can be laws against having any pigeon at all as a pet which imo is just dumb
my city gave me two months of the run around before they told me I could NOT tear my shed down and build a loft for my birds because of the possiblity of me making money selling birds :S
I then asked if I could just build a bird cage for my birds outside.
they said that was ok ... SOOO I just made the loft in the current shed I have and didnt tear anything down 
some counties in my state say you cant have them as pets at all 
no if's and's or butt's


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*That's interesting*

I knew they were popular in Europe as I was there in the army but that was many years ago (74/75). Lots of people in Germany had pigeons and of course, we know many German and European breeds.

The feed store where I used to buy pigeon feed stopped carrying it altogether as they did not sell enough. The store where I now get my feed stopped for a brief time as well and now pretty much get it for me and maybe one or two others.

I was beginning to think that I was the last guy in the area to have pigeons at all and it's plain to see that there aren't many of us. There is not one club left in the area except for racing homers and we used to have a few that had local swaps and shows. They are all gone.

Feed costs have hurt the hobby as well as local ordinances against them. I live in a rural area that is becoming nothing more than a group of subdivisions. My neighbor handed me a paper citing the local ordinances about animal waste or manure piles because he actually is afraid of pigeon manure. There is something in there that states that manure is to be removed from the premises daily. I removed my old pile and fertilized my gardens with it. The same guy used to love when I had a rabbit manure pile because I told him that he could have all he wanted for his gardens and he's never heard that rabbit manure is bad. Now, he gets horse manure from the next neighbor (which they clean up about twice a year) and he has no problem with that either.

The fear of pigeons and pigeon manure is ridiculous but people just love to hate pigeons. I have met one person who claims to have histoplasmosis but he is a lifetime smoker and has never quit. You'd think if he had pigeon keepers lung, smoking might not be such a good idea. He no longer keeps pigeons though. I also smoke but have had pigeons for almost 50 years and no pigeon related illnesses.

I'm not sure why the big decline in keeping pigeons, chickens, game birds, waterfowl or cage birds but it seems that these hobbies are all in decline. I do think that the economics of it are the biggest problem. I spend 150 bucks or so a month to feed my birds and I guess I never thought it would cost that much.

I'm just glad to have found this site and others when I began looking on the internet for pigeon related stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hobby isn't completely dead and there are actually quite a few of us left.

Bill


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## karijo (Apr 11, 2006)

Personally I would love to see more people keeping pidgies and less people trying to keep parrots. 

I worked for 18 years doing rescue and rehab on parrots and whew... what a miserable bunch of birds. I stopped taking them in a few years ago when I realized I much more preferred the company of the feral pigeons I was working with. You just can't help but feel bad for parrots, they need so very much, and yet it seems nearly impossible to ever do _enough_ for them - pigeons are so easy to please! I would love to see interest turn away from exotic birds and more towards the humble pigeon. So much more a pleasure to have in the home in my opinion! And certainly no lack of variety, what with all the amazing colors, shapes, sizes and feathering. 

I love watching Brooklyn flying free in and outdoors, that is something I was only ever able to do with one of the parrots I took in. 

Let's hope pigeon interest will be on the rise in the US soon!
Maybe with the crummy economy people will start looking for less costly pets...


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## j_birds (Sep 8, 2008)

*pigeon: the unpopular birds*

We keep talking about how unpopular pigeons are. BUT then what are we doing to promote them. Just how much do we do to try to get new people involved. We raise them and sell them, show them, take care of sick ones, and find homes for them, but mostly to other pigeon fanciers. We should be doing more to come up with ways to educate people on our beloved birds. Lets all try to think of a way we can let people know about how the pigeons compare to other pet birds. The people we have to let know HAS to be people that are not already interested in pigeons. I am starting to find ways but some of you may come up with ideas that I don't think of. If we all think and act on ways I am sure we can add people to our "pigeon People". Don't be shy, If you can come up with good ideas post them and lets all try to inform people of our beloved birds. You with me on this? Jim


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2008)

j_birds said:


> We keep talking about how unpopular pigeons are. BUT then what are we doing to promote them. Just how much do we do to try to get new people involved. We raise them and sell them, show them, take care of sick ones, and find homes for them, but mostly to other pigeon fanciers. We should be doing more to come up with ways to educate people on our beloved birds. Lets all try to think of a way we can let people know about how the pigeons compare to other pet birds. The people we have to let know HAS to be people that are not already interested in pigeons. I am starting to find ways but some of you may come up with ideas that I don't think of. If we all think and act on ways I am sure we can add people to our "pigeon People". Don't be shy, If you can come up with good ideas post them and lets all try to inform people of our beloved birds. You with me on this? Jim


You make a very good point. Recently I attended my first pigeon show. There were quite a few people there, more than I expected. Most seemed to be exhibitors. I did meet a nice guy who talked to me about birds for a while. But for the most part, I got the feeling that everyone was too busy with show stuff and socializing with their fancier friends. It would have been nice if there was an information table or display, perhaps with some pamphlets about the hobby and the club. Maybe a demonstration or talk by a judge. You know, some things for spectators to learn about the hobby. If the club had done more advertising, more people would attend I'm sure. But most advertising seems to be within the hobby itself, which doesn't help to bring new people in.


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## Becca199212 (May 10, 2007)

That's brilliant! I have been quite successful in converting alot my friends and family into pigeon lovers- they don't keep them but they no longer despise them. The younger children who live close by often knock on the door asking to come and play with the birds 
When I'm hand rearing I take the young one with me everywhere, that stops a lot of people, they generally have no idea what it is that I'm carrying around. Some people just give me the 'are you mad' look whilst others are genuinely interested.


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## taylorr872 (Oct 5, 2008)

I've been making a point to bring a friend along every time I go to a show to help foster greater 'pigeon awareness' . It makes for a fun and interesting day out and I think most walk away with a more positive outlook toward the pigeon fancy.
The clubs certainly could step up their PR efforts a bit as I never see a booth geared towards curious attendees that don't have birds, but might be interested in getting some. 

I also noticed that I when I was at the dutchess county fair this fall there was a really great pigeon display complete with a loft and live birds that drew a lot of people and interest but there was no actual person there representing the club/ pigeon hobby at the time. A shame because there were many curious people/ families and no one to provide more information. 
Better PR could definitely bring in more people.


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## texas.410 (Apr 15, 2008)

The key is this, youth are the future. If you have a kid get them involved in the birds. A kid will always remember winning a ribbon or trophy. It is the memory of a lifetime. If you don't have a kid to get involved in the hobby find one. We need the young to keep or hobby alive. I worry about where pigeon showing and raising is going in this country.

The kids are so clean and the birds are so dirty. That is such a crock. 

You want to see some kids with happy faces and good ethics here ya go.


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## sirpigeon (Jan 25, 2002)

*Promoting the hobby*

I live in a very ethnic suburb. About 30 years ago there were people raising pigeons on just about every street in my area. And many kids got started in pigeons. But most of the old timers passed on and most of the kids grew up and didn't stick with the hobby. There used to be local fancy pigeon clubs and roller clubs, but they died out. The local clubs used to put on several pigeon shows per year. The shows were a good place to buy or sell pigeons and supplies as well as meet other local fanciers.
I've been trying to promote the hobby by posting classified ads in local papers,feed stores,and pet supply stores. I get occasional calls and it's a great way to find homes for my surplus birds.
I also give presentations at local schools. The kids are always surprised to see how clean pigeons really are and to learn about all the different breeds. I find it really enjoyable to promote the hobby. I enjoy talking about pigeons.


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## j_birds (Sep 8, 2008)

I talk about pigeons everywhere I go. Some people ask me if I ever talk about anything other than birds. I tell them Yes to my wife.lol. Then some are very interested even though they know very little. I now have lots of phone No.'s in my cell phone of people that want to come watch when I release my homers. The few that have seen my birds ask lots of questions. I also have gotten a few to start helping out the ferals and a couple to buy birds and start trying to tame them. When I tell them they can even buy diapers for those they want to have as pets...they look at me like I'm nuts. Diapers for a pigeon....you got to be kidding me. I had one guy that was a pigeon hater come look ay birds and talk to me for about 2 hours. Now he has built a nice feeding station for ferals. Started out with a few birds eating there now has a flock of around 50 visiting everyday. Had to add another feeding station. I;m still gonna talk peoples ears off about our birds. Maybe a few will have a interest develop. I am now starting to take a neighborhood child with my wife and myself whenever we going to anything to do with birds.


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