Japanese racing pigeon flies across Pacific to Canada

“They asked us whether he had travel documents and so on, and we said, ‘No, he flew here on his own,’ and so they labeled it a migratory bird, which allowed us to hand it over, without (having to fill out) a bunch of Customs paperwork, to the local pigeon racing society, which offered to give it a new home,” Westcott said.

And that, right there, is why I love Canada. Other countries it'd be tied up in legal limbo for months on end.

One plucky pigeon, for sure.

"...eventually hopskotching its way to Canada, stopping and sleeping on freighters along the way..."

Not only a tough little guy but a smart one. He's no birdbrain.

Very tired but very smart pigeon- Vancouver Island is a great travel destination.

Win on endurance, fail on GPS

“I’m sure his offspring would be very good long range racers,”

Except they never reach the finish :P

There are 1000 kilometer pigeon races held in Japan but only about 10% make it back. I remember back in the sixties a Japanese racing pigeon flew from Hokkaido to Alaska.

Pigeon to the crowd: I just flew in from Japan, boy are my wings tired.

I'll be appearing all week.

at least missile defense didn't shoot it down. hehe. such an amazing story in my opinion. poor pigeon it fought to save its life.

but he did not wish to pay to have the pigeon flown back aboard a commercial jetliner

He could have just ordered it to fly home again. Isn't that what they do?

"Other countries it'd be tied up in legal limbo for months on end."

And we know this how? ?

can it be that birds are at least in some ways superior to human beings?

"The pidgeon was discovered tired"

The pidgeon must have been out of shape, ha ha

And out of poop, ha ha

I believe someone has already mentioned it; this bird landed on a ship and hitched a ride. I recall in my old Navy days an owl hitched a ride on our ship in Korea, was fed by the sailors onboard and got off in Hawaii.

How do we know it was "racing"?

I hope that he finds a new direction in the new world....