Why would anyone want to raise pigeons? Readers might be surprised to find out just how useful they can be. Pigeons are fast and clever fliers. During World Wars I and II, they were used as a means of communication. Today, homing pigeons, or racing pigeons, are specially bred for their great speed and homing instinct. With this fun and informative book, readers will learn what is needed to raise pigeons and learn how these intelligent birds are trained.

More than 150 titles in Barronï¿1/2s Complete Pet Ownerï¿1/2s Manuals series offer basic advice and instruction on housing, feeding, protection against disease and parasites, and caring for pets of every imaginable kind. All books are heavily illustrated with color photos and instructive line art. Here is everything bird fanciers need to know about keeping pigeons, including feeding, housing, protection against parasites, general health care, and breeding. There is also information on various members of the pigeon family, and on breeding pigeons for racing.

They have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of humankind, they have been crucial to wartime communications for every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. One delivered the results of the first Olympics in 776 BC and another brought the news of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo more than 2500 years later. Charles Darwin relied heavily upon them to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet today the pigeon is reviled as a rat with wings. How did we come to misunderstand one of humanity's most steadfast companions?In Pigeons, Andrew D. Blechman travels across the United States and Europe in a quest to chronicle the bird's transformation from beloved friend to feathered outlaw.

This title covers all species in this group available to the Australian aviculturist. Colour photography throughout is supported by precise, easy-to-read information on the care, management, health and breeding of these unique birds.

This book contains a complete guide to breeding pigeons for profit, with information on common problems, selection, necessary equipment, ailments and diseases, marketing, and many other related aspects. An accessible and comprehensive guide, “Practical Pigeon Production” will be of utility to anyone occupied in keeping pigeons for economic gain, and would make for a useful addition to collections of allied literature. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on pigeons.

A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 'Rich and joyous ...The book's quiet optimism about our ability to change, and to learn to love small things passionately, will stay with me for a long time' Helen Macdonald 'Big-hearted and quietly gripping' Guardian 'I love Jon Day's writing and his birds. A marvellous, soaring account' Olivia Laing '[A] beautiful book about unbeautiful birds' Observer 'This is nature writing at its best' Financial Times 'Awash with historical and literary detail, and moving moments ... Wonderful' Telegraph 'Every page of this beautifully written book brought me pleasure' Charlotte Higgins 'A vivid evocation of a remarkable species and a rich working-class tradition. It's also a charming defence of a much-maligned bird, which will make any reader look at our cooing, waddling, junk-food-loving feathered friends very differently in future' Daily Mail 'Endlessly interesting and dazzlingly erudite, this wonderful book will make a home for itself in your heart' Prospect As a boy, Jon Day was fascinated by pigeons, which he used to rescue from the streets of London. Twenty years later he moved away from the city centre to the suburbs to start a family. But in moving house, he began to lose a sense of what it meant to feel at home. Returning to his childhood obsession with the birds, he built a coop in his garden and joined a local pigeon racing club. Over the next few years, as he made a home with his young family in Leyton, he learned to train and race his pigeons, hoping that they might teach him to feel homed. Having lived closely with humans for tens of thousands of years, pigeons have become powerful symbols of peace and domesticity. But they are also much-maligned, and nowadays most people think of these birds, if they do so at all, as vermin. A book about the overlooked beauty of this species, and about what it means to dwell, Homing delves into the curious world of pigeon fancying, explores the scientific mysteries of animal homing, and traces the cultural, political and philosophical meanings of home. It is a book about the making of home and making for home: a book about why we return.

This book presents a detailed guide to hand-rearing techniques for raising young birds, providing complete coverage of a wide variety of avian species and taxonomic groups for all avian care professionals. Chapters are written by expert rehabilitation, aviculture, and zoo professionals, and include useful references and bibliographies for further reading and research. Each chapter provides valuable information on appropriate intervention, housing, feeding, and care. Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition presents 50 chapters, including 12 new chapters on species or groups of species not featured in the previous edition. It also features color photographs that help illustrate many concepts pertinent to birds. This important reference: Offers a detailed guide to hand-rearing techniques including species-specific guides to caring for and raising young birds Covers a wide variety of avian species and taxonomic groups Discusses how to examine a chick to identify problems such as hypothermia, dehydration, injuries, and common diseases, and what to do Combines information on the science and skill needed to successfully hand-rear birds Presents full-color photographs throughout Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition is an essential resource for avian rehabilitators, breeders, veterinarians, and zoo staff.

A celebration of Brooklyn features more than one hundred original articles that tap into the life of "America's Hometown."