Eyesign… Only in Pigeon Racing

Pigeon EyesignAt 57 years of age, I have been very fortunate in my life to be successfully involved in various competitive sports – HUMAN AND ANIMAL.  Only in the pigeon sport have I ever heard of evaluating athletes by “EYE SIGN”.  I have never witnessed nor heard of coaches, owners, general mangers or parents looking into the eyes of their players, young children or livestock with a “jeweler’s loupe” to see if they were going to be a good performer, top breeder, sprinter, long distance athlete, etc.

I have owned, raced and bred horses.  I have gone to several top sales and auctions, and I have never heard or witnessed an eye sign theory to select racing or breeding stock in horses.

The same applies in dog racing, fighting chickens, dog fighting or other types of animal competition that is legal or illegal.  Nobody has any theories or evaluation procedures with eye sign.  WHY? Because they would be laughed out of the sport for such a theory.  It is ridiculous for those sports or competitions, and it is just as silly to believe they can be used in the pigeon sport to help with success.

I read advertisements about eye sign specialists, racing eyes, sprinting eyes, distance eyes, eye sign pairing and mating, graders, teachers and scientific research about eye sign. Only in the pigeon sport do some fanciers believe and practice these methods.  Of course, there are other methods we also use in the pigeon sport for evaluation and culling that many have faith in, such as wing formation, strong or weak back, soft or hard muscle, throat configuration, color of toe nails, short or long keel, and maybe 20 more physical characteristics that are used as methods of selecting breeding or flying stock.

In all of these theories never do I hear mention the one major requirement necessary for the racing pigeon to be successful:  The ability to find his way home, “HOMING ABILITY”.  The intelligence and navigation skills to be 100-600 miles from home and race and navigate to return home to his loft the same day.  Without this ability to home and navigate, all the other qualities mean nothing.  Yet the graders, teachers, master breeders, specialists, etc. never seem to be concerned about this one aspect of our sport.

Can they grade intelligence, heart, determination, motivation or desire just by handling a bird, opening his wing, looking at the throat or looking into the eyes?  PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK!  YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS AND REALLY BELIEVE THIS IS POSSIBLE!  To spend your money and time applying these methods to achieve success is foolish.

Like I said before, only in the pigeon sport do these experts exist (self proclaimed experts). WHY? Because we in the sport look for any short cut to success.  There is none.  The only way to be successful in this sport is the old fashioned way, to work for it, and earn it.

The sad thing about these so called experts graders and eye sign experts is that I truly believe they think they have the ability to select birds by their methods.

Only in the pigeon sport can they find individuals gullible and naive enough to listen and sometimes practice their methods.  No other sport or competition would consider such theories with a straight face.

We talk about our sport being on the decline, and there are many reasons for it.  What a shame if a new flyer gets involved with one of our eye sign experts, and spends his time and money on their methods.  After a few years, if he stays that long, with little or no positive results, we lose another potential fancier and maybe a few of his friends.

Yes, I am being hard on these individuals because I TRULY BELIEVE THEY ARE HURTING OUR SPORT for some small financial gain or a personal ego trip, or both.

As I have said in many other articles, you have the best graders in the world, the training basket and race day.  By training and racing your birds you will be evaluating yourself as well as evaluating and culling your birds.

You as a trainer may need some improvement in different aspects of the sport:  feeding, training, medication, trapping and loft management.  It is hard for us to accept the blame for poor results or heavy loses.  We much rather blame the birds, the weather, the transport company, or some other area, but not our own abilities or methods.

To select breeders and flyers is a very simple procedure.  PERFORMANCE should be your only criteria. Does the bird come from a winning family, generation after generation of excellent race results?  If the answer is yes, then the bird is worth taking a chance on in the breeding or flying loft.

Performance means the type of results necessary to compete in your area:  speeds, distances, weather and land conditions.  If the bird’s family has shown that it can be competitive, that is all you need to know. Forget about his eyes, wings, back, muscles, throat or keel.

Occasionally I will go to a auction, especially if it is sponsored by an excellent flyer and offers birds with race records.  I see these domestic birds, some with multiple diplomas, sell for much less then birds with foreign bands and no race results.  The excuses are that he is to long, has no chest, has a weak back, has no breeding eye, etc.  FORGET THOSE THEORIES!  The bird has already proven itself in race competition with multiple diplomas.  He has the ability, and he has already proven it.  You would have no problem taking a chance on breeding this bird with another performance bird with the same ability.

“SAME ABILITY” means proper breeding:  speed to speed and distance to distance.   If the bird has multiple diplomas at various speeds and distances that is even better.  You really should not care about eye sign, or how the bird handles.

The sport is changing everyday.  New ideas and theories are advertised, sold and practiced.  However, the basic principle still applies:  no homing ability and navigating skills, no positive results.  You cannot find these abilities by looking into the eyes.  Regular training and racing and selecting breeding and flying stock for performance results and bloodlines is the only path to success.

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Article Written by: Bob Prisco

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140 thoughts on “Eyesign… Only in Pigeon Racing

  1. Right on, Bob! In my early days in the sport I tried studying eyesign and it seemed that every “expert” had a different theory. I even had a mentor in the AU Help-a-Beginner program that tutored me on the “bottlecap” of the “inner sphincter muscle” in the eye, even showing me how his best birds all showed it. Shortly thereafter someone pointed out to me that if that is what he is selecting for, then that is what his birds will possess, both the good ones and the bad ones. Why I didn’t see this myself I do not know. Twenty years later I asked one of his club mates how he was doing, and the reply was “I hope he keeps using that method because I am still taking all his pool money.”

  2. This is a very good article. The author makes some good points. After being in the sport 53 years and having traveled across the USA to be inside many of the best lofts that there is and has ever been and listening carefully to the fliers that maintained those lofts I have to believe that there is actually some correlation to eyesigns and performance. This may even be true with race horses and fighting chickens, etc. And it may be an area that experts in those fields have not given the notice to that they should. I also believe the author is dead correct when he mentions the homing ability as the main thing to look for in the determination of what constitutes a great racing pigeon; I have long harped on this issue. I believe the best way to seek the best homing ability is to fly extreme long distances. Once you discover those birds that can home sucessfully from great distances then you can begin to concentrate on the other physical qualities that generally make up a champion racer. The more refined all the different features of an individual bird then the better advantages it will have over its competition when in a race. Of course, fitness and motivation must be a concern as well. It is a aggrigate of every small thing that adds up in the making of a champion in any sport. Owning that “edge” often makes the difference in first and second place. I do believe that there are pigeons that can see differently among themselves and that the various colors of eyes and all that composes them does have some influence in the overall racing ability of the bird just as much as the shape of a flight feather surely either helps or deters in racing. All through the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s I never saw any gravel eyed racing pigeons or what some call “pearl eyes.” Yes, there were a scant few but just that. What I observed was always the beautiful dark red eyes, etc. of most champiuons. Sometime in the 1980’s and on up into today I begin to note a slow increase in the pearl eyes as more birds of this type were being imported from Belgium, etc. Now days it is nothing to see such an eye and the opinion of these types of eyes has drastically changed . Years ago those eyes were always considered inferior but today, not so. In fact, many fliers give them every bit the degree of confidence as they woulkd any eye. So, yes, I have see in my 53 years with racing homers–and my 800 first places—a change in thought about yeyesign in America. For myself, I have some 350 racing homers with all manner of eyes and what I consider the most important factor to be noted is homing ability. Not eyesign. I had a YB fly home from 700 miles last year setting an all time record here in Kentucky. And that bird’s eyesign happens to be nothing particularly special. But she certainly is. She is a Sion with no great features other than owning a keen homiomng ability; she was the only bird of 32 released that made it home. And I have bred from her this year and am interested to see how her babies will compete in the big races. In any event, this is a good article and I agree with much of what the author had to say. Blessings.

  3. pigeon racing here in the philippines is not declining,in fact,there are 180++ clubs here scatered all over the the island.and there are provinces with 7 or 8 clubs.we have two racing season in a year,north and south.
    about eye sign? well for me it’s the result that counts.

  4. I FEEL EYE SIGN, IS A GREAT TOOL FOR THOSE THAT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR.. IT GOES ALONG WITH GOOD CONFORMATION, STURDY FRAME, SOFT FEATHERS, OUTSTANDING SUPPLE MUSCLE, VIGOR AND AGGRESSIVENESS,..AND SUPER HEALTH…YEARS AGO, I LOOKED INTO THE EYES OF ALL MY CHAMPION FLYERS AND KEPT RECORDS OF WHAT THEY ALL HAD IN COMMON.. THOSE ARE THE THINGS I LOOK FOR IN MY FAMILY OF RACERS..ALONG WITH THE ABOVE MENTIONED QUALITIES.

  5. What a great and honest article. I couldn’t agree with you more in every respect. There may well be birds with simular eye sign that are champions, but it’s what behind those eyes that makes them a champion. Period.

  6. I agree with the article that if your breeding, nutrition and training are equal to the birds ability to return home then the best way to measure all of that investment is in the basket and on race day. That is where all the hard work and the birds natural ability are tested to their maximum.

  7. Each and every point mentioned here is very true. please send me some supplement names that can be given during race time .please.

    people here in india talk too much even if they dont know even a thing.very much disopointed.

  8. I agree with the writers views of the basket being the most important and trust worthy way of sorting out the good birds from the bad,but I also disagree with his comments on eye sign being rubbish.I guess it comes down to the individuals skill in being able to interpret what he or she is looking at.I’ll tell a little story,(a true story),and you can make of it what you wish,I dont really care.I was invited around to an old fanciers loft to choose some birds for stock,as he was a very good flyer and a national winner.He handed me a few birds,but I hadn’t seen the one I was looking for,so I asked him if I could look at his racing team.I went into his loft and watched his birds for a while,until one cock caught my attention.I bought it outside into the light so I could take a good look into his eyes.The circle of quality,right beside the pupil,which can be very hard to see,was outstanding and showed very good racing ability.I said to him that I’ll take this one home “with a laugh”as I didn’t think he would agree,seeing as he was still in the middle of a season with the longer races still to come.In actual fact he was shocked at my ability to come into his loft without any knowledge of his results,and pick out one of his best racing pigeons.That one is “marked”for the National he said.It scored very well in the young bird Futurity race and was a favourite for the national.But he was so impressed that a young fancier like me could pick out one of his best birds,so he said he would be happy to help me out and let me have it.I dont pick my birds by eye sign alone but look at the overall package.But In short,yes I do believe in eye sign.

    1. looking at the eyesign can you give gaurantee that this bird will fly well in race?
      from my knowledge i will say eyesign is used to find how strong the bloodline is.
      above every thing pairing the bird is very important. I pair my birds this way

      “A producer and a producer and a racer” which gives me racer and a producer .

  9. I could not agree more. Eye sign never made any sense to me, 45 years ago it wasn’t mentioned. If you get ride of a pigeon because of its eye you may be loosing the best bird you ever had. Let them race first thats all that counts.

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