600 miles to find their cage again. That’s impressive.
And they have bands on their legs that log their exit and return times. I found a wounded one and was able to contact owner through their organization. He came out and picked her up, end of her wing was broken off. He said depending on how it’s siblings fared he’d either breed her or give her to someone as a pet.
He told me one of the other racers was a former medic in the military. He said that guy had a pigeon return with a gash in it with some intestine hanging out and the guy clipped back the feathers and tucked it back in and stitched it up and it lived. They can bring up to $10K+ if they are winners and the high dollars comes out of the Middle East.