Homing Pigeon, Lost Pigeon

If you found a banded pigeon, it is probably a homing pigeon that was in a race and became exhausted or was injured. To find the owner, you need to know how to read the band. The band has a sequence of letters such as IF-0000-XXXX-16. The first letters are the governing organization the club belongs to (see below). Use these letters to determine which website to search for a club contact. The next numbers are the unique number identifying the individual bird followed by the letters identifying the club, and the last date is the year the pigeon hatched. For some organizations, the hatching date is the second number and the bird ID is the last number. If the band starts with the following letters then use these sites or contacts:

• AU - American Racing Pigeon Union
• IF - International Federation of American Homing Pigeon Fanciers
• CU - Canadian Racing Pigeon Union
• NPA - National Pigeon Association
• For more information see Homing Pigeon Flight Line