Fly & Train
First Flight
The first outdoor flight of a young pigeon can be fun to watch. Some of them take off for the sky and immediately join the other youngsters in loops around the field. More typically though, their first flight is simply a jump down to the ground or up to the nearest roof. They may spend a couple of days, going no farther than the roof.
Eventually, they get brave and bold enough to make a real flight with the older birds. As any pilot will tell you, flying is fairly easy, landing is not. When I see a bird come in for a landing, hesitate, try again, hesitate again, and fly away, I am pretty sure that I am watching a young bird on its first flight.
For the next couple of months, the young pigeons will enjoy flying, learn acrobatic maneuvers, and add weight, mostly in the form of stronger muscles. Their flights will last for longer periods of time and they will range farther from home. At that point, the young bird is ready to begin training.
Training
For the first training session, the birds are placed into a carrying basket and taken down the road to a nearby schoolyard. When I open the basket, they take a look around and, eventually, walk out of the basket. When they finally decide to take flight, they circle overhead, usually rising higher with each circle. When they can see home, and when they feel ready to go, they head for home together.
There is a cliff at Palisades Park, a little over a mile from my home that is one of my favorite beginning release spots. I can drive to the top and set their basket down on an overlook. When I open the basket, the youngsters take off and find themselves over 100 feet up in the air above the Upper Iowa River. From that location, they can see the entire town of Decorah, nestled in the river valley and their home loft. From that location, I can enjoy their circling flight and watch them fly all the way home.
Each week I drive the birds a little farther from home and monitor how long it takes them to return. Sometimes the birds don't come home immediately. Occasionally they don't come home until the next day. Those are difficult nights for me! When they return quickly, we go to a new location. The training process takes a lot of time and a lot of driving in all directions of the compass. When I turn these birds free they are exposed to many hazards- some man-made, others natural. I worry every single time I turn the birds loose. Most of the time, all of the birds make it home for supper and my bed-time beak count.