On 20/9, the Tay Ninh Provincial Pigeon Association organized its inaugural competition, drawing 36 participants.

Pigeons in the competition included many different breeds such as fantail, chicken, lion, colored wing, Dutch king, and racing pigeons. The price of each bird ranged from 200,000 VND to nearly 40 million VND, depending on the type and its previous achievements.

{"caption_all":null,"caption_items":"["Two participants from TP HCM compete in the technical training section for pigeons flying back to their owner.","Before the competition, participants quickly practiced with their birds. Each bird has a unique name; at close range, trainers call the name for the bird to fly back. When the bird flies far, the owner blows a whistle to call it.","Pham Thanh Nhat, 42, from TP HCM, shared, 'During training, some birds fly away, making this hobby quite expensive.'"]"}

Pigeons trained for competitions are often Thai racing breeds. When they are young, they are trained to fly back to their owner's hand from a distance of one meter, gradually increasing to 4 m and then 30 m. Each bird takes about two months to become proficient. Electronic chips are often attached to their legs to track flight schedules.

{"caption_all":null,"caption_items":"["After one minute of release, the owner signals for the bird to return. The bird that flies back to its owner first wins.","A humorous incident occurred during the competition when a bird flew back before the signal, forcing its owner to shoo it away to make it fly further."]"}

{"caption_all":null,"caption_items":"["Nguyen Van Tai, 20, successfully whistled his bird back. Meanwhile, many other birds did not return after the signal. In some cases, birds flew hundreds of kilometers back to their homes.","Despite only training pigeons for 1.5 years, Tai won first and second prizes in this competition with his two pigeons named Cu bi and Pho."]"}

{"caption_all":"The 'Pigeon Beauty Pageant' category had 22 participants. Among them, a black, gray, and white pigeon won first prize. A beautiful racing pigeon must meet standards including a small head, a slender beak, wings nearly as long as its tail, curved shoulders and chest, and well-proportioned legs.","caption_items":"["",""]"}

A pigeon with feathers around its neck, known as a lion pigeon. To the left are two cotton pigeons.

The white pigeon won the beauty pageant title, while the other two were runners-up.

After the competition, racing pigeons are kept in sealed wooden boxes with only ventilation holes to reduce stress from the surrounding environment during long-distance transport.

Hoang Nam