Harvey Young, known as the “Professor of Pigeons” in the Texas Hill Country, has been awarded the honor of “AU Publicity Person of the Year” by the American Racing Pigeon Union for 2025.
Harvey, a resident of Medina (about 15 minutes away from Bandera, the “Cowboy Capital of the World”) is especially known for teaching adults and children the ins-and-outs of the sport.
Harvey’s love of the hobby goes back to boyhood. It’s obvious that no matter who he is presenting to, whether it be children at the library, teens at summer camps, carnivals, farm and ranch stores or other public events, his audience will have an elevated interest in the sport.
In this day of cell phones, emails and various technologies, it can be difficult for us to imagine past communication. Humans once used pigeons flying across distances during urgent times.
Enthusiastic audiences often walk away with an appreciation for the strong and brave birds.
Sometimes, Harvey explains that during World Wars I and II, it was very difficult. Military operations used pigeons to send messages from battle areas back to headquarters. This resulted in the saving of numerous lives. Pigeons flew through really dreadful situations.
One pigeon, named G.I. Joe, was an American bird. It saved more than 1,000 lives by flying a message through. The message stated that a village about to be bombed had actually been recaptured by British forces.
“Pigeons mate for life,” he explained. “By the time they are babies, when out of the nest, they have an innate instinct of where their home is.”
“A first cousin to doves, mom and dad feed their babies by regurgitating food to them directly,” Young noted to the parents. “A female lays two eggs every 28 days.”
There are about 900 different breeds of pigeons.
• Each racing or carrier pigeon is registered with the federal government and protected by law from hunters or others.
• It’s a standard practice to register each bird with the Racing Pigeon Union so that individual pigeons can be tracked.
• Technology has advanced to the point that individual birds can be tracked by location and speed rate during races.
• “A pigeon can fly five to six hundred miles per day,” Young said.
• Most pigeons live about 15 years, with maybe 7 of those years capable of racing.
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So interesting to learn about these birds and this ancient way of communication. Think, “Noah’s Ark”!
We had a lone visiting pigeon at our church recently. He hung out on the steeple. One Sunday morning Michael (pastor) went to ring the bell for services, and the pigeon came swooping down on his head from the opening to the belfry-and out the open front door. Next week, I went over to do some work, went into the sanctuary to find bird poop and feathers all over the place, and the pigeon flapping around in a panic. He’d come in down the old brick chimney and through the stovepipe hole.
He landed on the overhead lamp. I opened the front doors, told him to go out (in the Name of Jesus, just to be sure), retreated into the kitchen. He took the escape route and we haven’t seen him in weeks. Maybe he was a lost currier pigeon, all alone.
It’s neat to see that this use of pigeons still goes on. Love the photos.
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FYI ~ Jack and I can’t stop laughing at your ‘In the name of Jesus’ comment. We can just imagine you shooing the poor panicked pigeon out the doors! 😂🕊️
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So glad it is gone, but I still can’t help but laugh when I think of this.
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Guess what–it’s back. Found all kinds of poop and feathers in the entryway when opening up yesterday morning. We are going to have to cover the the little opening where the bell rope hangs through. The saga goes on.
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You should try it with hornets. It always works; I know it sounds nuts, though.
Actually, to avoid any more damage, (he’d already pooped all over the Communion plate) I was pretty quiet. I did a sort of Mary Poppins: “Go outside, in the Name of Jesus. You’ll feel better.” And left him to decide. I think he must have been a very smart pigeon, because he left quickly.
Okay, so I’m the Christian pigeon whisperer. But animals understand so much more than they let on. It’s such a crazy story!
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You have the best sense of humor and articulate it so well.
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Christian pigeon whisperer!! 💜😂
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