Man Shells Out $1.4 Million for a Pigeon Because It's Simply the 'Lionel Messi' of Racing Birds

BY ASHLEY HOFFMAN  

MARCH 19, 2019

Don’t bet against the high-flying lifestyle of rare bird and sports.

A buyer has bid more than $1.4 million for a champion Belgian racing pigeon in a sale, according to the auction house Pipa, which oversaw the online auction for the rare bird.

This regal, emerald green-feathered bird is no regular pigeon you would frequent on the street — as you probably imagined.

In fact, lest you underestimate the athleticism of the mighty bird named “Armando,” look no further than this endorsement.

Nikolaas Gyselbrecht, the founder and chief executive of Pipa, told the Press Association: “This pigeon has a race record that has never been matched by any other pigeon.”

“In football terms you have Messi and Ronaldo – it’s that level.”

Source

Royal fflier: SSPCA rescuers shocked to discover lost bird is one of the Queen's racing pigeons

14:43, 25 FEB 2016

BY KARRIE GILLETT

THE exhausted bird, belonging to Queen Elizabeth II, was rescued at Traprain Terrace in Haddington, East Lothian.

ANIMAL welfare officers who rescued a lost pigeon in East Lothian were surprised to discover it had a royal owner - the Queen.

The Scottish SPCA was called when the exhausted bird was spotted at Traprain Terrace in Haddington on February 2.

Staff traced it back to its owner and the racing pigeon has now been returned to the royal loft at Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The charity's animal rescue officer Connie O'Neill said: "I've rescued many pigeons during my career with the Scottish SPCA but this was certainly a first for me.

"I was really excited when I found out it was one of the Queen's racing pigeons.

Read more at 

Navy warship rescues lost pigeon

A racing pigeon which got lost at sea is to be reunited with her owner after she was saved 300 miles out in the Atlantic by the crew of a Royal Navy frigate, MSN News reports. The exhausted bird was wrongly named Paul by crew members when she landed on the deck of HMS Somerset a week ago.Since then she has been fed and watered and received much attention from the 185 men and women on board.

An ex-pigeon fancier Leading Seaman William Hughes , caught the bird, checked it over and discovered that it was in fact female. He said, "It was a stroke of luck that Paul found Somerset. She will certainly have a few sea stories to tell her fellow pigeons." Lieutenant Mark Gilbert, the ship's flight commander, said, "The Royal Navy is used to saving life at sea and providing assistance to those in need. Caring for a lost pigeon seems like a natural extension to our versatile capability." The bird's ID ring allowed the crew to track down owner Gil Hartshorn, 75, from Redcar, Cleveland, who said she had been released for a cross-Channel race from France. daily times monitor

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C07%5C28%5Cstory_28-7-2013_pg9_5

Move over Usain! Feathered Bolt sells for $400,000 after only 1 year in priciest pigeon sale

BRUSSELS — Flying high above Europe’s economic crisis, a local lightning-fast pigeon called Bolt became the world’s most expensive racing bird when his Belgian breeder sold it for 310,000 euros ($400,000) to a Chinese businessman.

One-year-old Bolt, named after the Jamaican Olympic superstar sprinter Usain Bolt, and with an outstanding pedigree of proven champions to match, was the latest Belgian-bred pigeon to claim record prices. Yet the sums paid surprised anyone involved in the sport, auction house Pipa said. The previous record for a sale of a single bird stood at 250,000 euros ($322,000) from January 2012.

“I was stunned by the prices offered, “ Pipa CEO Nikolaas Gyselbrecht said Tuesday.

Read more