# Secrets of night flying



## BlackWing

Does anyone know what the secret is of training your pigeons to fly thru the night during long races?

I have heard that some fancier toss their birds 30 min before sunset and they make sure that the birds do not get back in time before dark. Some birds overnight and some fly home in the dark.

Any ideas and can someone shear their knowledge with us.


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## skitz

hello blackwing i am sure some one her could help you i would love to know about Secrets of night flying good luck


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## Happy

Blackwing, This has been done, but I would never release where they didn't have plenty of evening time to get home...... Was done in the Signal Corps some, but human life's were at stake. We lose soooo many birds to High Wires in good times, that in this day & age with so many more Wires of all types, makes it a terrible thing to do & will cause ya many casualties..... That's my advise....... Good Racing, Hap


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## re lee

Lets see you go down to radio shack get some small led lights and a watch battery And make a smal pouch mount them on the birds kind of like head lights on a car. Then they can fly at night. JOKING to night fly fist distance to loft should be short and light should not be to dark. pigeons don not see well at night. Now loft flying the birds at dusks they will learn to fly in less light BUT agin they need near loft distance. This helps on long races and smash races where The bird chooses to fly further then others when its getting dark. And birds that have been known to come in at dark or shortly after were close to home. Old J B RED SELBY used to train his birds back in the day to fly at and near dark to get a edge on the races. He also used to fly them in light rains and snow. used to say if you look out and see the wild pigeons flying yours should be flying also. He won and set speed records . I would not toss them but just loft fly them near dark. And todays problem is cell towers bad like spider webs ,power lines, And such The birds as said do not see well in the dark


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## Guest

i agree flying birds at night is kinda crazy , if you have ever seen biurds try to land at the darker part of dusk you will realize they are basically crash landing just to get back home .. but if you feel you must do this you should at least have a well lit landing site for your birds to be landing on so they can find their way to the traps with a well lit loft for them to fly into


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## spirit wings

Im thinking if you have long distance birds and put them in some races you will see which ones fly overnight and which ones won't.. Im not sure if it can be trained in them...it just may be the individule bird and his choice of course.


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## Airbaby

Me like everyone else has heard of night training and that it can be done...however I have not heard what number of losses were or are. For example the record for night flying is little over 150 mile done by the Army...however I have not heard the number of birds that were lost in accomplishing this feat.


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## Guest

it surely can be done but even with the tipplers that people fly in the night you still need some type of light source for them to find their way to land and trap into your loft


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## SmithFamilyLoft

BlackWing said:


> Does anyone know what the secret is of training your pigeons to fly thru the night during long races?
> 
> I have heard that some fancier toss their birds 30 min before sunset and they make sure that the birds do not get back in time before dark. Some birds overnight and some fly home in the dark.
> 
> Any ideas and can someone shear their knowledge with us.


Yes, I do know the secret of Night Fliers. My orginal mentor was a WWII Pigeon Corps supervisor. But, if I revealed that secret to you, let alone posting it here on a public forum, I would be releasing classified information. 
And then, well......let's just say one of those Predator Drone's would be circling...and that's all I can say on the matter. 

My advice would be to forget about it, forget the idea ever came into your head. In the 1940's, there were not that many overhead wires, today is a much different story. A pigeon's night vision is not all that good. You will end up killing a bunch of your birds. Some ideas such as night flying and frontal assults on machine gun nests, are just best forgotten........


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## Jimhalekw

Warren, I know night flying pigeons is an unjustified loss of birds, but a frontal assult on a machine gun nest? There goes my plans for the weekend. By the way I managed to get married six days ago for the first time for both of us, figure that has to be the most dangerous of the three by far! LOL Jim


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## Crazy Pete

They dont do it to make the birds fly in the dark they do it so the bird knows it does not have much time to get home. You take the birds 10 mi several times and see how long it takes them to get home. If it takes them 17 min to get home then you take them 10 mi and turn them out 17 min befor sun set, the next night 16 1/2 min, the next night 16 min. After a week or so your birds wont even circle they will just go home. A few may spend the night out at first but they will learn. Then on race day while every body elses birds are getting there direction yours will go home that should give you a 7 to 12 min head start. Every second counts. Thats just the way I herd of it being done.
Dave


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## MaryOfExeter

I wouldn't fly them at night. If they have the motivation, energy, and light (such as city lights or a full moon), they will fly home. If you're really set on having them come in during the night, then I would teach them how to use the trap in the dark. They can home regardless of the time of day, but it's getting in the building to be clocked that can be a problem.


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## eyespyer

*“The Nightflier” is a pigeon born in 2006.*

I found this and thought I should share it...

http://www.pigeonmania.com/pigeons-can-fly-during-the-night/


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## BlackWing

eyespyer said:


> I found this and thought I should share it...
> 
> http://www.pigeonmania.com/pigeons-can-fly-during-the-night/


Cheers for the info

I Also think it has something to do with the strain. There must be a way to train the birds. There is not a lot of wires where I’m living so i will try the 30 min before dusk and see if that makes a deference. I’m trying to find something on the net but at this stage nothing yet .................... Need to delve deep into the second world war archives I think.


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## BlackWing

I found something 

http://comanco-web.com/?p=60

*The night loft *

(I) The night loft should be situated as far as possible from wires, trees, or other eminencies which might injure the birds in flight.

(II) Shutters–Since night flying pigeons are trained and fed at night they must be given an opportunity to rest during the day. Doors and windows of a night loft are equipped with shutters that exclude light without cutting off circulation of air.

(III) Lights–When birds are working at night the interior of the loft is brightly Illuminated. A light is placed above the trap in such a position that it shines faintly on the lighting board. No lights should be placed on the outside of the night loft.

(IV) Lighting board–The lighting.board is larger than that normally used for day birds. It should have a length of at least five feet, and extend out from the loft at least three feet. Aluminum paint should be used on the lighting board to make it faintly luminous; the board should be repainted frequently. This would not apply where lofts have dormer type of trap.

(c) Stocking the night loft -Continued breeding of night flying pigeons has not demonstrated that the ability to home at night is transmitted to the youngsters. In fact night birds, because of their changed mode of living, are seldom in fit condition for breeding, and will usually produce youngsters that are below the desired physical standard. For these reasons it is best to stock a night loft with youngsters from proved day fliers.

(d) Preliminary training–Youngsters should be placed in the night loft when 28 days old. Breaking them to the loft and Trap should be done in the day time. During the first two weeks the schedule given for day birds is to be followed.

(e) Exercise–During the third week the single toss day flights are to be continued as for day birds. In addition, the youngsters should be exercised late In the afternoon so that they learn to trap to the loft at dusk. They should be fed at this time by artificial light. Night birds should never be released for exercise after dark. To drive birds from a lighted loft out into the darkness is certain to result in injuries and losses. The youngsters continue their exercising progressively later, being released late in the daylight but so that their flying arrival is made in the dusk and darkness of night. After the fifth week they should be ready for night training.

(f) Preliminary night training -Even after years of experience pigeons never lose their fear of flying at night. This fact is most important in the training of youngsters. The pigeoneer must bear in mind that the bird he tosses into the dark is always very frightened. If youngsters are given their first night training tosses in the evening, after dark, they are confused and frightened, and are likely to fly blindly into wires and trees, or settle to the ground and await daylight. Youngsters that settle to the ground on the first few night flights will do so on subsequent flights, and seldom develop into reliable night fliers. Morning tosses in the darkness just before dawn have proved by far the most successful in the training of night fliers. Youngsters tossed in the morning before dawn are as confused and frightened as if tossed in the evening; however, before they can stray very far from the loft area, or attempt to settle to the ground, it becomes light ;and they can easily find their way to the loft. Continued tosses in the morning before daylight will impress upon the bird that, even though he is confused or lost, all he need do is remain in the air until there is sufficient light for him to find his way home. Having thus overcome his initial fear his natural instinct and intelligence will come to his aid, and he will attempt to find his way hone through the darkness. After a number of successful flights to the loft in the darkness before dawn the pigeon will have gained enough confidence to be safely tossed in the evening, or at any time during the night.

(g) Direction training–Night flying pigeons are very directional, and car-not be successfully flown from all directions. A bird flying well from the south will usually not be reliable if released from the north. A few pigeons will fly equally well from all directions, but these must be considered exceptions. For this reason night birds should be trained only for the direction from which they will be used. To attempt to deviate from this course by more than 450 is certain to reduce greatly the effectiveness of the pigeon. If it is expected that night birds will be required for flights from two directions, for example, from the south and from the west, two teams of pigeons should be trained, one for each direction.

(h) Altitude training–nights birds that fly close to the ground upon release cannot be considered reliable messengers even though they do return to the loft in good time. Such birds are almost certain to fly eventually into wires or trees and injure themselves. Therefore a well-trained night bird should immediately ascend to a high altitude upon release, and make his flight to the loft at such altitude. The following method has been very successful in teaching young night birds to ascend at once upon release, and to remain high in the air. A field of-high corn, cane or reeds in the vicinity of the loft is selected. On a clear, moonlight night the youngsters are gently tossed one at a time into the tops of this vegetation. The pigeons will not be flying fast enough to injure themselves. However, they become so frightened in attempting to fly clear that upon freeing themselves they rise straight into the air to a high altitude. Two or three such tosses are generally sufficient to teach youngsters to climb rapidly to a great height immediately upon release. This training is not necessary in the case of youngsters which are exercised with old night birds, and who learn to follow the latter to high altitudes. Birds for this training must have successfully completed the training indicated in (f) above.

(I) Releasing -Night birds should always be forcibly tossed into the air when released at night. Night birds should never be group tossed, or released from a basket. An open spot as far as possible from wires, trees, and buildings should be selected for the release of night birds. These points should be stressed in the training of handling and using personnel.


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## SmithFamilyLoft

Jimhalekw said:


> Warren, I know night flying pigeons is an unjustified loss of birds, but a frontal assult on a machine gun nest? There goes my plans for the weekend. By the way I managed to get married six days ago for the first time for both of us, figure that has to be the most dangerous of the three by far! LOL Jim


Congradulations !! Now that reminds me of impaling oneself on a bayonet...but that is a bit OT.....


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## ezemaxima

Here's a guy from the Philippines that loft fly his birds at dusk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ODR0A3QiUs


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