For nearly 40 years, the local pigeon racing club has been elevating humble birds into sky-high competitors across the region.
Founded in 1988, the Logan City Pigeon Club takes pigeon racing to heart, with about 18 local members competing for 26 weeks of the year.
With a flock of about 30 pigeons, the Logan club competes against others across south-east Queensland.
Club secretary Patrick Ketchell, whose dad was one of five founding fathers, said the pigeons were flying hundreds of kilometres in a race – sometimes over 1000km.
“Our first race is from Gympie, and the last race in our schedule is Townsville,” he said.
“Each pigeon that we send away has got an electronic chip ring on its leg.
“On the cages at home we have an electronic card so that when the pigeon walks over it [when it returns], it will scan the chip ring and tell us what time they flew and everything.
“Then we work out the velocity – metres per minute – and whoever has the highest velocity wins the race.”
But when the birds are more than 1000km away in a place like Townsville or Broken Hill, how do they know where home is?
“Even scientists don’t know,” Mr Ketchell said.
“The best way I can explain it is that it is like us growing up as kids.
“You can be 10 years old and play with the kid next door and come home; become a teenager and get on your bicycle, go down a couple of streets and come home; get your car licence, do a road trip and you always know where home is.
“But a lot of it is iconic stuff – if they are flying north, they can see the high rises and the bridge and know how to get home from there.”
Before the birds embark on their huge missions, they receive specialist training, but even that can’t fully equip them for what lies ahead.
“Unfortunately, because of peregrine falcons these days – it’s killing our sport,” Mr Ketchell said.
“We try our best to get them home as well as we can, but because of the imported peregrine falcon and how many of them there are, it is really hurting our sport.”
Mr Ketchell was pretty much born into pigeon racing and remembers growing up at the club’s Loganholme headquarters before the neighbouring properties turned into the industrial blocks they are now.
Now he is winning national pigeon racing competitions – two in the last four years.
He is keen to welcome new members to the club.
To find out more email [email protected].
