[Leeny]

The other day at Burnaby Lake, I saw this striking white pigeon and later noticed the band on its leg:
Banded Racing Pigeon by Leenyxa, on Flickr

From my quick google searches, it seems like this might be a racing pigeon. This is new to me - can anyone fill me in on how pigeon racing works? Am I supposed to report this sighting (and where?) I tried looking up this particular bird, but the only part of the band I can make out is "20" (presumably the bird was hatched in 2020), and "B"...something. I think it's BR, which would be Breakaway Lofts. That's about as far as I got.

How does the birding community feel about pigeon racing?

[BirdingBC]

This is definitely a 'domestic' pigeon. Just like chickens and farm ducks/geese, these fall into the same domestic group and I believe eBird does does not lend focus to them as they are not wild bird. Any domestic avian species, bred for a particular purpose, would likely be covered by some breeding organization or governing body.

Personally, I have not given racing pigeon much thought. I assume this bird is an escapee or stopped at the lake on its way back to its roost. Neat to see and I am sure it stood out. Should it remain an escapee, it will likely become food for a bird of prey as 'white' does not offer a lot of camouflage advantage.

Cheers and good birding,

[stumblingpiper]

The other day at Burnaby Lake, I saw this striking white pigeon and later noticed the band on its leg:
From my quick google searches, it seems like this might be a racing pigeon. This is new to me - can anyone fill me in on how pigeon racing works? Am I supposed to report this sighting (and where?) I tried looking up this particular bird, but the only part of the band I can make out is "20" (presumably the bird was hatched in 2020), and "B"...something. I think it's BR, which would be Breakaway Lofts. That's about as far as I got.

How does the birding community feel about pigeon racing?

Regardless of its origin, it's a lovely bird.

[jewill]

I’ve seen and photographed several white pigeons at Piper Spit over the years. None of them have been banded or wing-tagged that I could see though. I wonder if there is someone nearby who breeds them for release at weddings and other events and they have managed to escape or chose not to return home. As Kevin said, they undoubtedly end up as raptor dinner, a sad reality.
As for pigeon racing, I too have never thought about it. I have not heard any bad things about it but that may be my own ignorance showing. I should do some research on the topic.
It’s a beautiful picture against the clear blue sky, so congrats on that!