Expert: Roger Lederer - 4/6/2007

Question
What do carrier pigeons eat?  One such pigeon is hanging around our neighbourhood in the Cayman Islands and seems tame - you can almost touch the bird?  What is the best food for a carrier pigeon?  As best I could read the tag on its leg reads FCC 2003 066786781 - how do I find out if this is a locally owned bird?

Answer
I'm not aware that anyone uses pigeons as carrier pigeons anymore. Carrier pigeons were used in WWI but not much after that. So you are talking about the common city pigeon, or Rock Pigeon, I think. In the Caymans, there are several other species of pigeons, but if this one has a band, it is a pigeon somene is keeping for some reason. Best food? Since this is a bird owned by someone, it is getting all the food it needs. If you want to feed it something, try popcorn.  Try the American Pigeon Racing Union at http://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm for information about the tag. Roger Lederer