Errol Ecker, 75, has raised pigeons since he was eight years old. Today, the Maryland retiree is considered a top “pigeon fancier,” training birds that have won hundreds of races. He and other Marylanders devote their lives to racing pigeons. “It’s a passion,” Ecker said. Photo by Drew Lesofski

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When Beverly Gottlieb was growing up in Hanover, Maryland, other teenagers had to clean the house after school. She had to clean the pigeon coop.

Her father taught her not only how to raise pigeons, but how to race them. “I was born into it,” said Gottlieb of the hobby. She still races pigeons today with the Greater Baltimore Pigeon Club.

Pigeon racing is a sport — some say an art — in which pigeons compete against each other in a flying race. Owners take their birds miles away from their home coops, called lofts, and release them to race home, tracking their time.

People who race pigeons are sometimes called “pigeon fanciers.” They buy or breed fast-flying pigeons and train them to enhance their chances of winning.

Several breeds of pigeons exist, but many pigeon racers say that the racing homer pigeon is the best for racing because it has a slim body shape and powerful wing and chest muscles. These pigeons can fly up to 70 miles per hour and cover 600 to 700 miles per day.

Five Baltimore, Washington and Virginia clubs form the Metropolitan Washington Racing Pigeon Concourse. These clubs race against each other, and winners receive cash prizes or trophies, depending on the race.

Some carrier pigeon history

Pigeons have carried messages for their owners dating back to ancient Egypt. The birds even helped the United States fight World Wars I and II by carrying messages in tiny capsules attached to their legs.

Soldiers in the field would release the pigeons to fly to their home loft. When the pigeons arrived, a member of the Signal Corps would remove the message from the canister and send it on to its destination by telegraph, field telephone or human messenger.

The most famous war pigeon, Cher Ami (French for “dear friend”), is credited with saving 197 soldiers in World War I. Born in England, Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for delivering a message that led to the rescue of the 77^th Division’s “Lost Battalion” in 1918.

In 2019, Cher Ami posthumously received the Congressional Animals in War and Peace Medal of Bravery. During her travels, the bird was shot in the chest, blinded in one eye and injured in one leg, requiring amputation. Today, the taxidermied, one-legged Cher Ami is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

As for pigeon racing as a sport, it probably began in Belgium in the early 1800s and was introduced in the United States around 1875. Today, races take place all over the world.

Race days

Before each race, Greater Baltimore Pigeon Club members take their birds to the clubhouse in College Park and load them onto a truck with louvered crates.

The driver then takes the pigeons to a pre-determined starting point, such as Orange, Virginia, 125 miles from Baltimore, and releases them there the next morning, notifying the owners of the precise release time.

“If they get a good tailwind, they can be home from Orange in less than two hours,” Gottlieb said.

Each bird has an identifying band on one leg. Owners can determine the time it takes for each bird to cover the predetermined distance by dividing the distance of the flight by the time it takes to complete the race. Wind and the pigeon’s health can affect its speed.

Club members also fly their birds from farther distances, for example, from Atlanta, Georgia, Lexington, North Carolina and Danville, Virginia.

Races take place in April and from June to November to avoid problematic weather. For older birds, races are usually held in the spring, when they are raising young birds, because the pigeon parents are eager to return home.

The younger bird races are held in late summer and early fall, after the pigeons have matured and become good flyers.

A pricey hobby

Some people, experts at breeding birds, raise their own prize pigeons. Others buy them. Either way, raising and racing pigeons can be an expensive hobby.

Tim Heidrick, with the National Pigeon Association (whose members show pigeons but do not race them) said, “The cost of buying a pigeon, racing or for show, can vary greatly depending on the variety and how good it is in races or shows.

“The price for a good racing pigeon will probably start out at a couple hundred dollars and quickly go up to several thousand dollars for a single bird.”

Add to that the ongoing costs of feed, housing, race fees and transporting the pigeons, and it adds up quickly..

Gottlieb, who believes she is one of the few women who race pigeons, usually has 200 to 300 pigeons in a loft behind her house.

“It’s not like a toy. They are live animals,” she said. “They have to be cared for every day and fed twice a day. I have to clean the loft at least once a week.”

Why does she race pigeons?

“It gives me pleasure,” she said, adding that she especially relishes the anticipation of their return. “You’re out there waiting to see your bird come home. It’s such a feat.”

Like Gottlieb, Charles Sykes, another member of the Baltimore club and owner of eight racing homer pigeons, also grew up with the birds.

“I’ve been around pigeons all my life,” he said. “When I was little, I’d go to the store and buy them as pets and companions.”

He joins with other racers to hire a truck driver who can drive as many as 2,000 pigeons and start races from spots up to 600 miles away in Ohio and North Carolina. “We try to get the bird home on the same day,” Sykes said.

Having pigeons “soothes your soul and spirit,” he added. “It makes you feel good. They keep me grounded, focused.”

Know your pigeons

Errol Ecker, 75, has loved the birds since age eight, when he started raising racing pigeons. A resident of Boring, Maryland, he has been president of the Green Spring Valley Racing Pigeon Club for 45 years. The group numbered as many as 55 in 1956 but now has seven members with a clubhouse in Owings Mills.

Ecker has been racing since 1960 and today has 400 pigeons he keeps in a loft 160 feet long.

“It’s a passion for me,” he said. “I’m genetically predisposed. My great-grandfather from Germany raised pigeons and horses. That’s what I do. People say I’m a clone of him.”

Pigeon racers strive to breed and select the best birds, feed them special diets and, most importantly, train them.

Ecker explained that he begins training a bird when it’s only three to four weeks old. He gets the young birds accustomed to their surroundings by letting them fly around in wire pens at home.

When released, these birds will instinctively fly back to where they were born. “Their homing system kicks in,” he explained.

Raising and racing pigeons takes devotion 365 days a year, with some days starting at 4 a.m., according to Ecker. “’Fun’ is not the right word,” he said. He compares it to raising and racing thoroughbred horses.

“It’s all about breeding, nutrition, loft conditions, training, and working on a yearly schedule. It’s all related,” he said.

People tell him he has “stock sense” — an innate ability to work with pigeons. He has won hundreds of awards and mentored many students over the years.

“It’s a calling; it’s just there. It’s knowing your pigeons and knowing how to get the best out of them. You can’t read it in a book. It has to come to you,” he said.

For more information, contact the American Racing Pigeon Union, a national organization of 700 pigeon-racing clubs with 10,000 members, at pigeon.org.