The bird man of Wigan who trains his pigeon by racing it down the street

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Exercise: Jeff Daniel training his tame pigeon Prince by racing him down the street on a bicycle

Pigeon racing is not as popular as it once was - and for people to race against pigeons is even rarer.

But that's exactly what Jeff Daniel does on the streets of Wigan with Prince the Pakistani high-flying pigeon, which he reared from birth.

The pigeon enthusiast says his new cycling partner is 'a bit special', and has become something of a local celebrity.

After selling off the rest of his coop, Jeff was left with just Prince, then only a few weeks old.


Close: Jeff says that Prince regards him as a parent, since it was Jeff who fed and nursed the bird as a baby

He fed Prince every few hours to keep him alive, and after that the 41-year-old father of two said the bird considered him to be his parent.
And Jeff said he was as surprised as anyone when Prince began following him when he went for a jog.


Speedy: Jeff started walking Prince down the street, but had to upgrade to cycling because he couldn't keep up

Jeff said: 'One day I put Prince down on a bench, walked a few paces and whistled and he came and landed on my head.
'So I started increasing the distance to see if he would keep doing it. After that I started running round the field and he was following behind me.
'I knew I needed to get a bit more speed so I got on the bike and before I knew it he was flying alongside me.'
Jeff said the breed, which is not common in the UK, can fly at extremely high altitudes for up to 12 hours at a time.


Celebrities: Neighbours are now surprised when they see Jeff without his fine feathered friend

He said: 'They fly right up in the clouds and aren't visible to the naked eye from the ground. They're amazing birds with a very distinctive look.
'People are amazed when they see Prince flying alongside me. Now he's getting a bit famous people stop me and say, "Where's that tame bird of yours?"
'I've always been fascinated by birds and I did falconry years ago. But I've never seen a pigeon this tame before - he's certainly a bit special.'


source: dailymail

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A pigeon holds a berry in its mouth while foraging for food in the snow

A pigeon holds a berry in its mouth while foraging for food in the snow, in Hartley Wintney, 40 miles west of London on December 20, 2010. Thousands of stranded travellers faced a nervy battle to get home for Christmas as snow and ice caused chaos at European airports Monday. International hubs London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels struggled to clear a backlog of passengers stranded over the weekend as holidaymakers tried to reach their destinations on time for December 25.









source: Daylife
photo: Gettyimages

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On me 'ead son! Real-life Dr Doolittle nurses sick pigeon back to health - and makes a friend for life

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Feathered friend: Nigel Mcfall nursed Silver back to health after finding him starving in the corner of a warehouse


An animal lover who rescued an injured pigeon has become a real-life Dr Doolittle after taming the bird - to become his house pet.

Nigel McFarr nursed the stricken bird back to health after he found it starving in the corner of his work warehouse.

But when he released the pigeon it refused to fly away - and now lives with him and wife Valerie at their home in Emersons Green, Bristol.

They have named it 'Silver' because it perches on his head and shoulder just like Long John Silver's pet parrot Captain Flint.

The bird waits for them to come home before joining them in the house - relaxing in the lounge and eating food from their hands.

It is believed Silver fell from a nest at the John Lewis warehouse in Bristol where Nigel, 65, works as a fitter.

The bird was 'close to starving' when he took it home eight weeks ago. He fed it garden seed and water and put it in a rabbit cage to recover.

Nigel said: 'His eye colour changed from white to brown and he started to get purple and green plumage around his neck.


Part of the family: Silver lives in the garden while Nigel and his wife Val are at work, joining them in the house when they arrive home


'He was gobbling up all the seed and soon began to look a lot brighter.
'After 10 days I thought I should let him loose in the back garden and we expected him to fly off.

'Val was in the garden on a reclining chair and the first thing he did was go and sit on her head.

'Since then he has barely left our sides. Every time I go into the garden he comes to sit on my shoulder like a pirate's parrot, that's why I named him Silver.'

Silver lives in the couple's garden and swoops down onto their heads when they arrive home from work.

Nigel added: 'When I'm out in the garden he always finds me - we've had him eight weeks now.

'We once saw him on the roof with a wood pigeon and thought, that's it, he's off now, but he still returned.'

Nigel is known locally as a 'Dr Doolittle' because he has rescued many other stray animals including cats, dogs, a duck and bred lop-eared rabbits.


source: dailymail

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