Immigrants help carry on ancient sport: pigeon racing

Immigrants from many countries get together, near Seattle, for this sport that they brought from their homelands.   - - Donna Poisl

By Sarah Stuteville, Special to the Seattle Times

Eagles are majestic. Doves are romantic. Pigeons, with their tatty wings and street-living ways, are seen by many folks as dumb and dirty, referred to as the "rats of the sky."

But if you ever met a sleek-feathered, iridescent-colored, sharp-eyed racing pigeon, you'd never think of his cousin — that humble creature eating bread crusts in Pioneer Square — the same way again.

Pigeon racing is a centuries-old, worldwide sport thought to have originated in Europe. It attracts enthusiasts from around the world — including a bunch of guys crowded into a Kent basement on a recent Saturday morning, sitting on folding chairs balancing paper cups of coffee and Safeway doughnuts on their laps.
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