5,000 birds vanish into thin air

Pigeon fanciers are trying to establish why more than half the birds flying in a race to the North East have not yet arrived with similar problems affecting competitions last Saturday



Pigeon fanciers are trying to work out how around 5,000 birds have disappeared into a “Bermuda triangle” in a single race in what is being called one of the worst days ever for the sport.

A race from Peterborough to the North East saw 9,000 pigeons taking part in what would normally be a three hour competition but more than half have yet to arrive.

Atmospheric conditions are the only explanation that has been put forward so far.

“Most of the breeders I’m talking to are blaming the atmospheric conditions — possibly a solar storm above the clouds that created static in the atmosphere — but no one really knows.”
Homing pigeons use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate but they can be disorientated if there is a geomagnetic storm.

Breeders have seen their clubs lose hundreds of pigeons that have identification rings. They are asking anyone who sees one of the racing pigeons to give them food and water with the likelihood they will eventually continue on their way.
Ian Evans, of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, reportedly said: “We became aware quite quickly that something very unusual was happening.
“On the face of it the weather conditions were good. But in the event, thousands of birds simply didn’t return.
"Something happened that disrupted their navigational abilities. We believe it may have had something to do with solar wind activity.”

He added that there have been similar reports of problems in other European countries and the racing association has gone to the Met Office to find out whether solar activity could have caused a geomagnetic storm.