Not all pigeons are Rats with wings

First, I will kill any wild pigeon I see,
Rats with wings I agree 100%
BUT, There is a breed out there called Racing Homing Pigeons .
all good ones have bands on there feet , The really expensive ones have tiny GPS tracking attached to there bands.
If you shoot one with a band try and find the owner through the band numbers , You will get a big thanks,
The good ones will be hauling ass back home 300 to 600 miles and not taking the time to goof off or land with the wild birds.
Just saying there is a different bird in the sky besides the rats,

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Understanding how to read a pigeon band

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Reading The Bands
Bands Listings
Care of Found Birds

Understanding how to read a pigeon band
The American Racing Pigeon Union registered bands have a specific format. Once you understand how to read the band number, you will find it easy to locate the club that issued the band on our Band List page. Make sure to visit our page on How to Care for a Found Pigeon.
Band numbers are in a series of letters & numbers as shown below.
EXAMPLE= the band may read–>AU 99 ABC 1234
(1) – AU – is the national organization that has registered the bird, in this case the American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc. The band can also have IF, CU, ATB, NBRC, or IPB in this position.
(2) – 99 – is the year the bird was hatched and banded/registered.
(3) – ABC – is a letters representing the pigeon club the band is registered to (no two clubs have the same registration letters – and they have one, two or three letters).
(4) – 1234 – A one-up number unique to each pigeon based on the club letters. Now that you understand how to read the band, you can go back to our band list to find the club that the bird you found belongs to.
NOTE: (PERSONALIZED BANDS) Sometimes the band may just have the owners name, phone and/or address on it that you may call or write them.
To help make finding the owner of a found pigeon easier, please enter only the letters that follow the year on the band.
Then scroll down the list until you find the club letters you entered. In the example below, the letters to enter are XYZ.
Example Band Code: AU 2003 XYZ 3234534
AU = American Racing Pigeon Union
2003 = Year The Bird Was Banded
XYZ = Club Code
3234534 = Individual Bird (Serial #)
In the example to the left, you will see;
AU (our organization) and the year the bird was born and banded (2003).
Also note, the “Club Code” is XYZ and the number that follows is the bird’s id number.
To search for a band, enter just the “Club Code” in the search box below and scroll down to find the club lettering (Club Code).
Contact information for that club secretary will be listed.
If the band has different letters than AU, it may be another organization.
If the band has the letters CU. you can find their band list at http://www.crpu.ca/
If the band has the letters IF. you can find their band list at http://www.ifpigeon.com/
If the band has the letters NPA. you can contact them at http://www.npausa.com/
If the band has the letters IPB. you can contact them at foyspigeon@zoominternet.net , or their store at 877-355-7727
NBRC – http://www.nbrconline.com
If the band has the letters ADA, please contact the American Dove Association (ADA secretary, Denny Stapp) at secretary@doveline.com

Mike