July/August 2026

44 – Purebred PIGEON Thoughts on Box Flying Pigeons By Mike Hanna - Michigan Box flying pigeons? Where do I start? What exactly do I mean by “Box Flying”? I have heard the terms: free flying, field flying, and flying to a portable loft. When I heard the term “Box Flying,” I liked it. It most clearly describes what I am doing: transporting my birds in a carrier to a location, turning them loose to fly, and recalling them to a trap (mine is a simple 20-bird transport crate with a baking sheet in the bottom) for transport back to their loft at my house. I don’t want to use the term “mobile” or “portable” loft. What I have read about what was done during World War II is interesting. For part of one season, I played with some homers and moved the trap to see if they would look for it. They did, searching a 6 soccer-field facility to find the trap. I also taught them to follow my car for a short distance, about 1/3 of a mile, which would likely have been more successful with a legiti- mate portable loft. I think someday there will be someone who takes that further, and I just don’t want to interfere with that history or potential future. My initial conversations with members of WMPA about Box Flying broadened when a couple of people related the idea to their own areas of interest. Is it a way that could make certain competitions more accessible? Highly likely. Is it something kids can do? Certainly. A way to reinvigorate a club? Possibly. Here are a few things I would consider before flying to the box. B reed , L ine , B reeding , B ird . Breed, Line, Breeding, and Bird (B/L/B/B) seems to me the most logical place to start, and I am just going to concen- trate on breed and bird today; the line within a breed and the individual bird breeding are something to concentrate on as you hone your flock. Breed: What kind of flight do you want to watch? What are your most likely flying conditions? How many different locations do you think you will fly? For in- stance, I have had some low-flying breeds that were great fun when flying big open sports fields, but I had trouble with hawks when I flew them in tight parks with dense tree lines. When I fly a tight little park, I like a bird that will get up and into the sky. Also, I personally don’t do well with reactive or skittish breeds; they just don’t fit the way I move and talk. However, friendly and easy-going breeds were a bit of a liability when I flew in parks with a lot of people; apparently, not everyone finds a pigeon landing on them interesting. What kind of wind conditions will you face, or are you willing to let your birds face? How many birds are you going to fly? Different breeds handle these things, well, differently. These are just some thought starters if you think you would like to fly to a box. Then there is the individual bird. The individual bird will always matter, but I think at the early stages of box flying, we should pay even more attention to the individual bird. There aren’t a lot of people box flying, and thus, we don’t really know what we are looking at or for. That means that within the breed chosen there is still a lot of selection of individual birds that will have to happen. Another reason I bring this up is so people can prepare themselves for some loss initially, and to encourage people not to be fixed on what they want it to look like. Instead, be open to a couple of discovery seasons where they observe how attached their birds are or are not to the trap, how they re- act to novelty, how quickly they recover from a scare. Process produces product. Which birds go into your program and which do you part with? What will your process be? Do you let the birds settle before cutting them loose? What are the birds really responding to when you call them in: time, audio, or physical cues? If the first season or two are about discovery, you will find that you have less failure, though you may find 100 things you don’t like. I deas for limited bird ownership I think there are some indoor flying options. These are just thoughts about what might be done to encourage new people into the fancy, particular kids, but anyone really. I guess that anyone who hasn’t been around pigeons their entire life will have ideas about pigeon pet ownership that are influenced less by the farm and more by dog, cat, and traditional pet birds. I think once box flying is understood, the pigeon becomes a very interesting pet option. So, the question posed to me was what flying options might there be for a new generation of pigeon owners at home? With 1, 2, or 3 birds, housing them indoors is a viable option. A rabbit hutch set up is an affordable option if you only have a few birds, live in the city, and have ordinance or space issues. I also think that some indoor flying options would create opportunities for individuals and clubs to develop experience before attempting to box fly outside. It would be an option for someone coming to pigeons with a different perspective on more “pet ownership” approach. Here are some more ideas on this approach. One of the great things about these indoor ideas is that breed largely doesn’t matter. Nearly all pigeon breeds can fly across a room with no problems. R ecalls A recall is when the bird comes to you on cue. The recall game can have any number of criteria: does it come when cued? How quickly does it respond? Does it come